Leadership

IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation Ltd) CRISIS WASN’T IN THE SKIES. IT WAS IN THE LEADERSHIP CABIN. Three things stood out. One: Employees were left alone to face furious customers. No leader should ever let that happen. If you don’t stand by your people in a storm, don’t expect them to stand by your customers in the sun. Customer experience collapses the moment employees feel abandoned. Two: In any crisis, honesty is the only strategy that works. This time, the communication wasn’t transparent. When leaders hide the full picture, years of goodwill can disappear overnight. A crisis can earn trust, but only if you tell the truth. Three: The belief that “we are too big to be ignored” has ended more companies than competition ever has. Customers always have a choice. And if they don’t, they will create one. We shouldn’t watch the Indigo crisis like spectators. This is a reminder for every leader to build their own crisis blueprint. Because crises will come, when they do, your response becomes your reputation. There is more to business than profits. There are people, trust, and how you show up when it matters most.

💡 Trust is what happens between the meetings. Not in the agenda. Not in the slides. It’s built in the tiny moments—the hallway chats, the “how’s your dad doing?” check-ins, the post-call laughs. That’s where culture quietly compounds. Remote teams don’t get those moments by accident; you have to engineer them. ✅ Create space for non-work huddles ✅ Check in just to say hi ✅ Celebrate people when no one’s asking you to Because trust isn’t a value on the wall. It’s the feeling people have when the meeting’s over.

This may be an unpopular opinion but.... the most important characteristics I look for in a leader are vulnerability, empathy, and intuition. Everything else is secondary. Why? ➡️ Hire a leader with empathy because if they can create a culture where your employees are not terrified to fail or make a mistake, that will allow them to be more innovative. At Spanx we had 'oops' meetings where we would go around and talk about a mistake we made that week. Employees (and leadership!) had to stand up and share their biggest screw-ups. It made it to where the fear of embarrassment didn't kill performance. ➡️ Hire a leader who's vulnerable and doesn't feel the need to put on a facade to be taken seriously. When I started Spanx, instead of talking at my customer, I wanted to talk to them. I made myself vulnerable, and I tried to apply that same logic to working with my employees. Vulnerability helps you connect with everyone. Your customers, your employees, even your critics! ➡️ Hire a leader who's in touch with their intuition. Do they know how to listen to their gut? Do they know when to throw out the data and the 'expert opinions'? The Spanx team and I did this in 2019 when picking the famous leather legging as our hero product of the year.... we had no proof that it would create a cult-following but we had a gut feeling and we trusted it. What are your top 3 things you look for in a leader? ⬇️

I was shadowing a coaching client in her leadership meeting when I watched this brilliant woman apologize six times in 30 minutes. 1. “Sorry, this might be off-topic, but..." 2. “I'm could be wrong, but what if we..." 3. “Sorry again, I know we're running short on time..." 4. “I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but..." 5. “This is just my opinion, but..." 6. “Sorry if I'm being too pushy..." Her ideas? They were game-changing. Every single one. Here's what I've learned after decades of coaching women leaders: Women are masterful at reading the room and keeping everyone comfortable. It's a superpower. But when we consistently prioritize others' comfort over our own voice, we rob ourselves, and our teams, of our full contribution. The alternative isn't to become aggressive or dismissive. It's to practice “gracious assertion": • Replace "Sorry to interrupt" with "I'd like to add to that" • Replace "This might be stupid, but..." with "Here's another perspective" • Replace "I hope this makes sense" with "Let me know what questions you have" • Replace "I don't want to step on toes" with "I have a different approach" • Replace "This is just my opinion" with "Based on my experience" • Replace "Sorry if I'm being pushy" with "I feel strongly about this because" But how do you know if you're hitting the right note? Ask yourself these three questions: • Am I stating my needs clearly while respecting others' perspectives? (Assertive) • Am I dismissing others' input or bulldozing through objections? (Aggressive) • Am I hinting at what I want instead of directly asking for it? (Passive-aggressive) You can be considerate AND confident. You can make space for others AND take up space yourself. Your comfort matters too. Your voice matters too. Your ideas matter too. And most importantly, YOU matter. @she.shines.inc #Womenleaders #Confidence #selfadvocacy

Stress isn’t always about the thing itself. It’s about our relationship to it. Two leaders can face the exact same challenge — a missed deadline, a difficult board meeting, a team conflict — yet their experience of stress is entirely different. Why? Stress often has less to do with the external event and more to do with the lens through which we view it. 👉 When we label something as unbearable, it grows heavier. 👉 When we approach it as a problem to be solved, it becomes manageable. 👉 When we see it as an opportunity to grow, it can even become empowering. This distinction matters because leaders carry tremendous weight. If everything feels like a “threat,” stress compounds. But if we learn to reframe — to shift our relationship to the pressure — we not only reduce stress, we increase our capacity to lead with clarity and resilience. As an executive coach, I work with clients on this every day. Here are a few practices that make a difference: ✅ Name it clearly. → Is it the situation itself that’s stressful, or the meaning you’ve attached to it? Naming the difference is the first step in reframing. ✅ Shift the narrative. → Instead of asking “Why is this happening to me?”, try “What is this asking of me as a leader?” ✅ Control the controllable. → Stress escalates when we fixate on what’s outside our power. Refocus on the small actions you can take. ✅ Build in recovery. → Even the strongest leaders need rituals that restore — whether that’s exercise, mindfulness, or simply 10 minutes of stillness. The goal isn’t to eliminate stress. The goal is to reshape our relationship to it so it serves us, rather than overwhelms us. Coaching can help; let's chat. Book Your Coaching Discovery Call Today  ↳ https://lnkd.in/eKi5cCce Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Joshua Miller for more tips on coaching, leadership, career + mindset. #executivecoaching #leadership #mentalhealth #coachingtips #wellness

90% of CEOs master spreadsheets and strategy. Only 10% master the skills that actually matter. The difference? They've developed 7 core competencies that separate leaders from managers. After coaching 100s of CEOs, I've noticed the same pattern: The struggling ones have impressive resumes. The thriving ones have these capabilities. 1. Emotional Intelligence Your IQ got you the job. Your EQ keeps you there. Reading rooms, managing reactions, navigating politics. This is 80% of leadership. 2. Critical Thinking Everyone analyzes problems. Few ask "What am I missing?" before deciding. That pause? That's where breakthroughs live. 3. Vision Setting Strategy without vision is just a to-do list. Great CEOs paint futures so compelling that people volunteer for the journey. They make tomorrow feel inevitable. 4. People Development Your job isn't to be the smartest person in the room. It's to build a room full of smart people. Coach by asking questions, not giving answers. 5. Managing Change Change fails when you start with process. Change succeeds when you start with why. People don't resist change—they resist being changed. 6. Accountability Weak leaders track activity. Strong leaders track outcomes. Make metrics visible. Let results speak louder than excuses. 7. Clear Communication Not just talking. Creating understanding. The best CEOs explain complex strategies like they're telling stories to friends. They repeat key messages differently until everyone gets it. Technical skills get you promoted. These competencies get you remembered. You can have the perfect strategy, flawless execution, record profits. But if you can't communicate clearly? If you can't read a room? If you can't develop others? You're not leading. You're just occupying an office. The CEOs who last don't just run companies. They master themselves first. Your legacy won't be your quarterly results. It'll be the leaders you created along the way. P.S. Want a PDF of my 7 Leadership Competencies cheat sheet? Get it free: https://lnkd.in/dvNZYvjT ♻️ Repost to help someone in your network. And follow Eric Partaker for more on leadership competencies. — 📢 Want to think & operate like the world's best CEOs? Then join my free training this week. "7 Steps to Become a Super Productive CEO" Thur, Aug 21 @ 12 noon Eastern / 5pm UK time: https://lnkd.in/dBcU-zHv --- 📌 Earlybird enrollment is open for the Oct cohort of The Founder & CEO Accelerator. OFFER ENDS Sep 7th Learn more & apply now: https://lnkd.in/d-EZtG3U

Your success as a leader comes down to how well you set others up to succeed. And I’ve gotten this wrong more than once. When onboarding new leaders, I would give them a stack of docs, send them on a listening tour, and check in often. I assumed that was enough. It wasn’t. I gave them information—but not context. And context is what actually drives clarity, confidence, and results. I’ve since rethought my entire approach to onboarding leaders. This year, when two fantastic leaders joined our team, I did something different: spent a week on providing context. No shortcuts. We talked through: Our mission, strategy, and priorities What success looks like in their first 90 days, 6 months, and year What’s worked—and what hasn’t—in these roles before How we’ll share feedback and stay in sync The shift? Less “onboarding” as a task. More “transferring judgment.” We left with shared context. And here’s what’s interesting: the same thing applies when onboarding AI agents. You can’t just dump data into a system and hope it performs. AI needs context too—about your customers, your voice, your goals, and what “good” looks like. Whether you’re onboarding a new employee or a new AI teammate, the principle is the same: Context isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between getting started and getting results.

🥊 “Jingjin, have you ever considered that women are just inferior to men?” That was her opening line. The lady who challenged me was not a traditionalist in pearls. She was one of the top investment bankers of her time, closed billion-dollar deals, led global teams, the kind of woman whose voice dropped ten degrees when money was on the line. And she meant it. “Back in my day, if I had to hire, I’d always go for the man. No pregnancy leave. No PMS. No emotional volatility. Just less… liability.” And she doesn’t believe in what I do. Helping women lead from a place of wholeness. Because to her, wholeness is a luxury. Winning requires neutrality. And neutrality means: be less female and suck it up! I’ve heard versions of this many times, and too often, from high-performing women who "made it" by suppressing. But facts are: 🧠 There are no consistent brain differences between men and women that explain men’s “logic” or women’s “emotions.” 💥 Hormones impact everyone. Men’s testosterone drops when they nurture. Women’s cortisol rises in toxic workplaces, not because they’re weak, but because they’re sane. 📉 What we call “meritocracy” is often a reward system for those who can perform like they have no body, no children, no cycles. None of those are biologically male traits. They’re artifacts of a system built around male lives. So, if you're a woman who's bought into this logic, here are some counter-strategies: 🛠 1. Study Systems Like You Studied Deals Dissect the incentives, norms, and bias loops of your workplace the same way you’d break down a P&L. Don’t internalize what’s structural. 🧭 2. Redefine Strategic Strengths Stop mirroring alpha aggression to prove you belong. Deep listening, self-regulation, and nuance reading, these are leadership assets, not soft skills. Use them ruthlessly. 💬 3. Name It, Don’t Numb It If your hormones impact you one day a month, say so, but also say what it doesn’t mean: It doesn’t cancel out 29 days of clarity, strategy, and execution. 🪩 4. Build Your Own Meritocracy Start investing in spaces, networks, and cultures where your wholeness isn’t penalized. If none exist, build them. 🧱 5. Deconstruct Before You Self-Doubt When you catch yourself thinking “maybe I’m not built for this,” pause. Ask: Whose rules am I trying to win by? Who benefits when I question myself? This post isn’t about defending women. We don’t need defending. It’s about calling out the internalised metrics we still use to measure ourselves. 👊 And choosing to rewrite them. What’s the most 'rational' reason you’ve heard for why women are a liability?

I’ll be honest. 
When I first started stepping away from the day-to-day… I used to feel a strange satisfaction when things broke in my absence. 
It made me feel important. 
Like I was the glue holding it all together. But the truth is harsher: 
Every time something breaks when you’re not there, it’s a sign you’ve failed to build a system that works without you. That’s not leadership. 
That’s being a bottleneck. 
A liability. Because when progress depends on your availability, your time, your personal input - the whole business becomes fragile. 
You become the single point of failure. Let me be clear: 
If your team needs you to approve every small move, you’re not scaling excellence - you’re scaling dependence. 
That’s ego. Not leadership. Real leadership is when: - The thinking happens without you. - The decisions happen without you. - The momentum continues without you. Not because you’re not needed. 
But because you’ve built a system that doesn’t collapse when you’re not in the room. If you step away and things grind to a halt, you haven’t built a high-performing team. You’ve built a fragile operation propped up by your control. And that’s on you. Every time something breaks in your absence, it’s feedback: - A system isn’t clear. - Accountability isn’t owned. - Trust isn’t built. It’s a signal to fix the machine, not to double down on micromanaging. Because here’s the harsh reality:
 A business that can’t run without you is a business that can’t grow beyond you. Let that sting. 💡George Stern

Scaling from 50 to 100 employees almost killed our company. Until we discovered a simple org structure that unlocked $100M+ in annual revenue. In my 10+ years of experience as a founder, one of the biggest challenges I faced in scaling was bridging the organizational gap between startup and enterprise. We hit that wall at around 100~ employees. What worked beautifully with a small team suddenly became our biggest obstacle to growth. The problem was our functional org structure: Engineers reporting to engineering, product to product, business to business. This created a complex dependency web: • Planning took weeks • No clear ownership  • Business threw Jira tickets over the fence and prayed for them to get completed • Engineers didn’t understand priorities and worked on problems that didn’t align with customer needs That was when I studied Amazon's Single-Threaded Owner (STO) model, in which dedicated GMs run independent business units with their own cross-functional teams and manage P&L It looked great for Amazon's scale but felt impossible for growing companies like ours. These 2 critical barriers made it impractical for our scale: 1. Engineering Squad Requirements: True STO demands complete engineering teams (including managers) reporting to a single owner. At our size, we couldn't justify full engineering squads for each business unit. To make it work, we would have to quadruple our engineering headcount. 2. P&L Owner Complexity: STO leaders need unicorn-level skills: deep business acumen and P&L management experience. Not only are these leaders rare and expensive, but requiring all these skills in one person would have limited our talent pool and slowed our ability to launch new initiatives. What we needed was a model that captured STO's focus and accountability but worked for our size and growth needs. That's when we created Mission-Aligned Teams (MATs), a hybrid model that changed our execution (for good) Key principles: • Each team owns a specific mission (e.g., improving customer service, optimizing payment flow) • Teams are cross-functional and self-sufficient,  • Leaders can be anyone (engineer, PM, marketer) who's good at execution • People still report functionally for career development • Leaders focus on execution, not people management The results exceeded our highest expectations: New MAT leads launched new products, each generating $5-10M in revenue within a year with under 10 person teams. Planning became streamlined. Ownership became clear. But it's NOT for everyone (like STO wasn’t for us) If you're under 50 people, the overhead probably isn't worth it. If you're Amazon-scale, pure STO might be better. MAT works best in the messy middle: when you're too big for everyone to be in one room but too small for a full enterprise structure. image courtesy of Manu Cornet ------ If you liked this, follow me Henry Shi as I share insights from my journey of building and scaling a  $1B/year business.