Mindset ⁽⁷⁾

Fear on the floor isn't a culture problem. It's an information problem. Years ago, in the early days of accounting software, I had a CFO who was petrified to try anything new. Not lazy. Not unintelligent — the opposite. She was sharp, careful, and deeply…

Why owners keep hiring the wrong kind of leader — and how to stop. You're the owner or CEO of a manufacturing, oil and gas service, or construction firm doing $5M to $100M in sales. You've built a real business. You have managers running operations,…

Escaping the trap of external validation to lead with "Strategic Defiance" and authentic purpose. I have to admit that it took me a long time to figure out what I was called to do. I don’t know if its because I was the first born…

It's what your team does when someone else is holding the ladder When I was younger, I didn’t think about culture. If you had asked me what it meant, I probably would have said something about nationality, where you grew up, or religion. I certainly…

Why the real problem isn't your calendar — it's your battery. Over the years, I've gotten good results as a manager, leader, and coach by following a simple philosophy: if people feel good — trusted, respected, not living in fear of losing their job —…

Why your best employees stopped sharing their ideas Most organizations are wired for negativity. Performance management systems, variance reports, and exception tracking are all designed to flag what is going wrong. This is not accidental. Negativity bias is deeply ingrained in human psychology; we are…

Why Your Obsession Is Making You a Worse Leader If you are an ambitious leader or founder, your drive is the engine of your success. You pour your heart into your work, stay late, and consistently push your own limits. When faced with a crisis,…