Wall Street analyzes companies based on public information, market dynamics, financials, the pedigree of the board, etc. They never account for the hidden forces inside companies that create flow or friction, and often have even more influence on performance. It’s time they do.

The primary goal of public service should be to serve the public, not stay in office. As soon as you are no longer fit to serve the public, you should leave the office.

Great leaders step down when they are no longer fit to serve. Abdicating power when it is in the best interests of the country is an act of humility, courage, and service. Holding on to power when it no longer serves the nation is one of arrogance and narcissism. #Biden2024

Clarity is kinder than ambiguity. When invited somewhere, saying “I’ll try to make it” when you have no intention of going might help you avoid an awkward conversation, but it just makes planning harder for the host. Be kind. Say yes when you mean yes, and no when you mean no.

Four simple things to do more of today to get better results from your teams: 1) Thank them regularly for quality, on time work 2) Recognize them publicly for exceptional work 3) Coach them privately for subpar work 4) Celebrate incremental progress It’s really that easy.

If you work in an organization where “the real work happens behind the scenes,” you likely have a problem with conflict avoidance. Great teams hash things out together in real time. Each member has to be be more interested in finding the right answer than in being right.

Successful communication requires us to take responsibility both for seeking to understand and for being understood. Seeking to understand sounds like, "I'm hearing you say X, is that right?" Being understood sounds like, "What are you hearing me say?" and trying again if wrong.

Victimhood says, “Why does this keep happening to me?” Responsibility says, “What am I doing that allows this to keep happening?” Choose wisely.

Sometimes the kindest thing you can say to someone is, “You’re not ready, but here’s how you can get there.” Whether it’s taking on a new role or skiing more dangerous terrain, eagerness is not always a substitute for experience. Leaders help others get ready to level up.

In the 70's, we started regulating "environmental externalities" - the unintended impacts businesses had on the planet. Pollution, erosion, etc. It's time to start talking about "emotional externalities" - the unintended fears and traumas poor leaders inflict on their people.

Feeling aren't facts. Not all the “intuition” you feel is actually your inner wisdom. Some is just baseless fear or anxious craving. Notice the difference in your breath. Intuition makes us breathe slowly and deeply. Fear and craving, by contrast, create shallow, faster breaths.

Your challenge as a leader is not just to help your people intellectually understand what’s required of them, but also to help them emotionally understand how to get out of their own way and work better with others in order to achieve those goals. #leadingwithheart

Fix the system, not the symptom. It doesn’t help to “put out a fire” quickly, if you ignore the systemic issue that caused the problem in the first place. Scale doesn’t come from fixing problems. It comes from making sure you never have to deal with the same problem again.

What an honor to drop into conversation with a room full of incredible entrepreneurs in Dubai last month. Thank you for the invitation, @OutliersVC !

@mj_hollifield @Nichohlas @saxdavid @cmwalla Would love to hear what you think about our book!

Let’s remember that @elonmusk’s success has likely come in spite of his #Demonmode leadership style and not because of it. Steve Jobs achieved the most at @Apple after first being fired and then learning how to run high performing creative teams from @edcatmull at @Pixar.

Poor leaders often fall into two camps: 1) Micro-managers who make their teams feel anxious 2) Over-delegators who leave their teams feeling abandoned In the middle is the exceptional leader who helps her teams develop autonomy by coaching them through tough decisions.

When problem solving, don’t confuse finding agreement with finding the right answer. In fact, the faster your team comes to agreement, the more likely it is contrarian viewpoints were not voiced. Leaders, take the time to seek dissent and encourage debate on critical problems.

We often think it’s best to avoid direct conflicts with our colleagues to keep the peace. But peace isn’t the goal of your company: Disruption is. And disruption requires more honest debate, not less. So, don’t avoid conflict. Just learn to do it well—with heart.

We learn the most outside our comfort zone. Just not too far out. Throw people into the deep end too soon, and they might end up in the terror zone—very little learning happens once fear takes over. As a leader, it’s ok to push people to new depths, just don’t let them drown.