Cultivating A Leadership Mindset

This Teacher Changes 30 Lives Each Morning Here's Why This Works Every morning, a teacher greets her students one by one - not with rules, but with choice: A hug, A high-five, a nod, or quiet. A ritual so simple. Yet it tells 30 children: You are seen. You are safe. You belong. Here’s what this teaches us about leadership - and how to apply it at work: 1. Honor Autonomy (Self-Determination Theory) When people get to choose how they engage, they show up with more agency. Autonomy isn’t about letting go of structure - it’s about giving room to opt in. Try this: 🔷 Let people set their own work cadence - async, deep focus, or collaborative sprints 🔷 Ask: “What support looks best for you right now?” *** 2. Create Micro-Moments of Connection (Broaden-and-Build Theory) We don’t need hour-long one-on-ones to build trust. A genuine check-in. A name spoken with intention. That’s the glue. Try this: 🔷 Pause to celebrate effort, not just outcomes - a quick voice note, a public thank-you 🔷 Remember small details - a kid’s soccer game, a partner’s surgery - and follow up *** 3. Signal Safety in Small Ways (Polyvagal Theory) The nervous system responds before the intellect does. Safety is felt first. And safe leaders create brave spaces. Try this: 🔷 Ask: “Is now a good time?” before giving feedback or asking for decisions 🔷 Stay calm and present, especially when tensions rise - your tone sets the tone *** 4. Design for Anticipatory Joy (Affective Forecasting) The brain lights up for what’s coming next. The ritual at the door gave students a reason to show up smiling. Try this: 🔷 Drop a kind, unexpected message in the team chat - just because 🔷 Celebrate mundane milestones - 100 days in the role, 50th client call, 1st brave no *** 5. Anchor Culture in Meaningful Rituals (Harvard Research on Rituals) Rituals are memory-makers. They codify values in action - they say, this is who we are. Try this: 🔷 End each quarter with storytelling: what stretched us? what did we learn? 🔷 Welcome new hires not with logistics, but with a story of your team's "why" *** This teacher didn’t redesign the curriculum. She redesigned how people enter the day. You don’t need a big title to lead like that - Just the courage to meet people at the door. 💬 What’s one ritual you’ve seen shift the energy of a space - or want to create where you work? 🔁 Repost to inspire kind actions in the workplace. 🔔 Follow Bhavna Toor for more on conscious leadership.

Every company makes this mistake. They take their top performer, the best deal-closer, the most brilliant strategist, the sharpest mind in the room and promote them into leadership. And then? Everything falls apart. - Not because they lack skills. - Not because they don’t work hard. - But because they can’t take feedback. So, stop promoting high performers into leadership roles unless they have this 1 quality: the ability to take feedback constructively. Because brilliance without humility is a leadership disaster. We’ve all seen it. + The high performer who hates being challenged. + The brilliant mind who dismisses feedback. + The rising star who refuses to admit when they’re wrong. And suddenly, they’re leading a team, where their ego kills growth and their defensiveness shuts down innovation. Patty McCord, in Netflix’s legendary Culture Deck, made this clear: No brilliant jerks. Because if someone’s talent comes at the cost of an environment where others can’t speak up, grow, or challenge ideas, it’s not leadership. It’s toxicity. Before you promote someone, ask: ✅ Can they take feedback without getting defensive? ✅ Can they admit when they’re wrong and adjust? ✅ Can they create a culture where others feel safe to challenge them? Because leadership isn’t about being the smartest in the room. It’s about being self-aware enough to acknowledge mistakes and course-correct. The best leaders aren’t just talented, they’re open-minded. They don’t shut down when confronted. They adjust, learn, and make the team stronger. So before you promote your top performer, ask yourself: Can they take feedback without taking it personally? Because if they can’t, they’re not ready. #thoughtleadership #growthmindset #futureofwork

When I hired my 10th employee at 1% Club, I thought scaling was about adding more people.  I was wrong.  My team kept coming to me for every small decision. "Sharan, should we do this?" "What about that?"  I wasn’t building problem-solvers, I was building dependency.  That’s when I realized: scaling isn’t about headcount, it’s about mindset shift. From task-followers to independent thinkers.  Last week, I was reading about Mission Karmayogi – India’s civil service transformation initiative. It’s attempting the same shift, but at a completely different scale: 3.3 million civil servants.  Officials are being trained in AI, IoT, legal frameworks, and citizen-centric problem solving. The idea: move from “employees” who just execute tasks → to “karmayogis” who take ownership, innovate, and deliver.  What’s striking is how this isn’t framed as just an HR exercise. It’s about creating a culture of continuous learning, collaboration across silos, and aligning everyone around a single North Star: citizen-first governance.  That’s a lesson for all of us in leadership roles. Scaling sustainably is never just about adding people, it’s about building capacity, purpose, and culture.  If a system as complex as government can attempt this, every organization can reflect:  - Are we creating dependency or building capability?  - Are we measuring performance by tasks completed or problems solved?  - Are we investing in learning as a one-off, or as a continuous muscle?  I wish I’d learned this sooner.  👉 Do you see this happening in your teams? Are we training task-doers, or problem-solvers? 

“If I can do it, so can you”, sounds supportive. But for leaders, this mindset can quietly hold your team back. New research from Muriel Wilkins introduces a hidden blocker, the belief that your capabilities should be your team’s baseline. It often leads to: — Unfair expectations — Harsh feedback — Missed growth opportunities Not because leaders lack good intentions, but because they project their own standards onto others. This is rooted in something called naïve realism, the assumption that your view of the world is objective and everyone else should see it the same way. Here’s the problem: Your way isn’t the way. Exceptional leaders don’t measure others by their own pace, preferences, or past. They meet people where they are. They ask: What support would help you most? How do you define success? Where do you want to grow next? The best leaders don’t raise the bar by replicating themselves. They raise the bar by helping others realize their own potential.

Last week, I promised to answer your top questions about leadership in the age of AI. So, here goes! I’ll start with a foundational topic: What mindset shifts do leaders need to make during times of huge change? For me, it comes down to this — we need to go from being “map readers” to “explorers.” Map-readers rely on past routes and like knowing the destination. Explorers enjoy shifting terrain and thrive in not knowing the destination. They run experiments, stay close to the work and their teams, and earn trust by being present and being human.  They succeed because they are curious enough to learn. “Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit.” – Frank Borman (Apollo 8 astronaut) Minimize change → Ride the change Why it matters Change is not a phase. “Back to normal” isn't coming. Success is building resilience and helping teams thrive in turbulence. The mindset sets the tone: it has to be “let’s do this” versus “oh no, change”. What should leaders do Communicate with clarity relentlessly - what’s known, what’s unknown, and how you are making decisions. Make calls with incomplete information: run tests, adjust fast.    2. Certainty mindset → Scientist mindset Why it matters When so much is changing, doing what worked before won’t work. A scientist mindset means you have curiosity over certainty. You look for reasons you might be wrong, not just reasons you must be right and you surround yourself with people who challenge you. What should leaders do Set hypotheses and run experiments (more about this next week). Iterate, and learn as much from being wrong as from being right. Be a “learn-it-all,” not a “know-it-all.” 3. Manage from above → Get close to work Why it matters When you are exploring new paths, you need to stay close to the ground. You need to be a master of your craft Managing with decks and dashboards is not enough. What should leaders do Write prompts, embed within your team, get close to your team's processes. Triangulate with feedback from customers, partners and team members and don't rely on filtered reports. 4. Drive with control → Enable with context Why it matters The simple definition of context: it is what enables great work. Humans and AI both need it to deliver. It is the shared frame that makes the next action obvious and lets teams move with confidence and speed. What should leaders do Start with the “why” and “why now” behind strategies, pivots and decisions. Communicate it on repeat. Don’t dilute the message as it cascades down. Own it. 5. Me → We Why it matters No single leader can solve challenges alone, and being a lone explorer will lead to burnout. Choosing “we over me” puts team wins ahead of ego. And that’s how we win. What should leaders do Stay humble and recognize you may not have all the answers. Listen deeply across the business. Coach and help others grow. Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments, and I’ll share my second post in this series next week.

Now here’s a story about a boss on a steep growth trajectory—me—who insisted that everybody share my ambitions, and how my experiences at Apple changed my thinking. For too long, I believed that pushing everybody to grow super-fast was simply “best practice” for building a high-performing team. I was always looking for the best, the brightest, the brashest, and the most ambitious. It never occurred to me that some people didn’t want the next, bigger job. When I designed Managing at Apple, we encouraged managers to focus the lion’s share of attention on the most ambitious people, often to the detriment of those doing equally great work—and happy to keep doing it. Scott Forstall, who built the iOS team and worked directly for Steve Jobs, helped me see that this approach didn’t create the optimal team. We were discussing the performance-potential matrix many companies use for “talent management.” I said, “‘Potential’ doesn’t seem like the right word. I don’t think there is any such thing as a low-potential human being.” “Words matter,” Scott said. “Let’s wrestle with it.” He proposed using the word growth instead of potential, to help managers think about what opportunities to give people based on what they want—not just what the company wants. That shift changed everything. Instead of asking an implicitly judgmental question like, “Is this person high or low potential?” we encouraged managers to ask: • What growth trajectory does each person on my team want to be on right now? • Have I given them opportunities that align with what they really want? • What growth trajectory do they believe they’re on? Do I agree—and if not, why? These questions help you avoid burning out the rockstars and boring the superstars. They remind you that trajectories change, and you shouldn’t put permanent labels on people. Scott was right. Words matter. 👉 How are you making space for different growth trajectories on your team? — 📩 Want more practical, tactical tips like this? Start your week with The Radical Reset - a short Monday morning mindshift delivered straight to your inbox. Click here: https://lnkd.in/gr9CuxXc — Follow Kim Scott and Radical Candor® for more Radical Candor insights!

Most leaders do not crash and burn in a magnificent fireball. They simply wobble off the road because of tiny daily habits they ignore. (And the truly irritating bit is that these habits look perfectly innocent.) Leadership is not some heroic moment with trumpets in the background. It is the everyday grind. The tiny actions your team notices even when you think they do not. If you want people to actually follow you Instead of quietly plotting their escape Then pay attention to the simple stuff. So here are fifteen habits that actually make you a better leader. Even if you are fuelled by tea, sarcasm, and questionable decision making. → Listen more so people feel actually heard. → Ask better questions that spark real thinking. → Give clear direction without confusing everyone. → Show appreciation quickly before morale collapses. → Stay calm even when chaos erupts everywhere. → Make decisions with confidence. → Support your team when they truly wobble. → Offer constructive feedback. → Lead by example with effort and attitude. → Communicate honestly so people actually trust you. → Check in with people, not endless tasks. → Solve problems instead of blaming. → Learn something daily to avoid mental rust. → Hold yourself accountable first. → End the day by reflecting on improvements rather than your search history. Tiny habits create massive impact. Your team will forget half the things you say. They will never forget how you show up. Great leaders are made in the quiet moments. Usually while staring at a cold cup of tea wondering how the day went so horribly wrong. P.S Which of these daily actions will you try today before everything goes sideways?

I used to think founder success came from pure optimism. Five years in, I know better: you need equal parts paranoia that something will destroy you and faith that you'll win anyway. Both. Every day. And you can never turn it off. Optimism without paranoia is delusion. Paranoia without optimism is paralysis. This is what holding both forces actually looks like: 1. You pitch with total conviction while planning for rejection. You have to believe your vision is inevitable. That's the optimism. But you also assume every investor will say “no” and have five backup plans. That's the paranoia. The best founders sell the future like it's guaranteed while preparing for every possible rejection. 2. You embrace "10X force" thinking. Intel was getting crushed by Japanese memory manufacturers in the 1980s. Andy Grove saved the company with one paranoid question to Gordon Moore: "If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what would he do?" Moore's answer: "Get us out of memories." That led Intel to pivot to microprocessors before it was too late. Every quarter, ask yourself what 10X force could destroy you. Then build defenses while you still can. 3. You run Bezos's "Day 1" discipline at any size. Jeff Bezos writes that Day 2 is stasis, followed by irrelevance, followed by death. His system for beating that entropy: "disagree and commit" - move fast with conviction (optimism) even when uncertain (paranoia). Make decisions with 70% of the information. Waiting for 90% means you're too slow. 4. You do pre-mortems, not just post-mortems. Before any major decision, imagine it failed spectacularly. Work backwards. What went wrong? This "negative visualization" isn't pessimism - it's strategic paranoia. Psychologist Gary Klein pioneered this technique. Amazon pairs this with their PR-FAQ process where teams write the launch press release before building anything. One imagines success, one imagines failure. You need both perspectives. 5. You copy Jensen Huang's "30 days from bankrupt" mindset. NVIDIA's CEO tells employees they're always 30 days from going out of business. Not because it's true - they're worth $3 trillion. But because that paranoia drove them from graphics cards to AI dominance. Complacency kills more companies than competition.

Your beliefs about leadership can hurt your team’s success. Many people believe leadership looks a certain way. Myths have been passed down as "strong leadership principles." But over time, they quietly undermine the positive culture you’ve worked tirelessly to build. Here are 7 common leadership myths and alternative approaches that inspire teams: “Leaders must have all the answers.” ↳ Teams know more than any one person can. ↳ Ask your team. Let them share ideas. “Tough leaders get the best results.” ↳ Fear makes people quiet, not their best. ↳ Be kind. Show care. Teams work better. “Micromanaging ensures quality.” ↳ Too much oversight deflates confidence. ↳ Ask for what you need, then let them work. “Work always comes first.” ↳ Tired teams can't do their best work. ↳ Show it's okay to rest sometimes too. “Feedback should always be critical.” ↳ Feedback works best when it feels safe. ↳ Don’t just correct, recognize what’s working too. “Strong leaders never show weakness.” ↳ Honesty earns more trust than pretending does. ↳ Share when you’re learning too. It builds trust. “More meetings improve communication.” ↳ How you meet matters more than how much. ↳ Keep talks short. Make every word count. The truth? Leadership isn’t about control or volume. It’s about creating space for others to thrive. When you let go of these leadership myths, You unlock energy, trust, and real momentum. Which of these myths have you seen in action? ♻️ Find this valuable? Repost to support better leadership. 📌 Follow Amy Gibson for practical leadership tips.

Tired of being the bottleneck? Speak like a leader who inspires. No one teaches us how to be great leaders. Most of us learn by observing those we’ve worked for. We pick up habits along the way - some helpful, others not so much. If we’re honest, we’ve all used phrases that unintentionally demotivate our teams. I know I have. The good news is that leadership is a skill, and like any skill, it can be refined. We can choose to intentionally use words that motivate and inspire, rather than try to control and criticise. It's a small shift, but it can have a big impact. Next time you feel frustrated or find it hard to inspire your team into action, try using language that encourages collaboration and growth. 1/ Instead of saying: "You need to fix this." ↳ Try saying: "Can you walk me through how you plan to approach this?" 2/ Instead of saying: "Don't make mistakes like this again." ↳ Try saying: "What can we take away from this to avoid it happening again?" 3/ Instead of saying: "Just do it the way I showed you." ↳ Try saying: "How would you approach this? Let’s compare ideas." 4/ Instead of saying: "Who's responsible for these mistakes?" ↳ Try saying: "Let’s work together to understand what happened and prevent it next time." 5/ Instead of saying: "I might as well do it myself." ↳ Try saying: "I see you’re struggling with this - how can I help you succeed?" 6/ Instead of saying: "That's not how we do things." ↳ Try saying: "Can you walk me through why you’ve done it this way?" 7/ Instead of saying: "This didn’t go as planned." ↳ Try saying: "I appreciate the effort - how can we adapt this together?" 8/ Instead of saying: "I’ll just save time and do it myself." ↳ Try saying: "I trust your judgment to take this forward. What do you need to make it a success?" 9/ Instead of saying: "Why didn’t you tell me earlier?" ↳ Try saying: "What can we do to improve communication on this?" 10/ Instead of saying: "This isn’t good enough." ↳ Try saying: "What additional support do you need to make this even better?" Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating an environment where others feel trusted, supported, and capable of success. 👉 What phrases do you use to motivate your team instead of micromanaging them? ♻️ Share this post to help your network build stronger leadership skills. 🔔 Follow me, Jen Blandos, for actionable daily insights on business, entrepreneurship, and workplace well-being.