The hottest Leadership Substack posts right now

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Your team is too busy. You want to get more things done. 3 Phases of High-performing Engineering Cultures

🔮 Crafting Tech Teams • 39 implied HN points • 30 May 24
💼 Business Team performance Leadership Tech Teams
  1. Identifying and addressing different performance levels within teams is crucial for success. Low performers lack defined standards and quality expectations, while high performers exhibit strong individual and team qualities.
  2. In high-performing teams, quality expectations are well-defined across the organization, emphasizing individual accountability and collective excellence.
  3. Leaders should strive to move teams from mid-performance towards high performance by fostering a culture of shared responsibility, quality, and efficiency.

The Golden Algorithm: The One Key to Unlock All of Life's Problems

The Leadership Lab • 137 implied HN points • 16 Jan 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Emotional Wellbeing Mindfulness Self-Improvement Leadership Mental health
  1. Avoiding emotions or ways of being can lead to those exact things manifesting in a stronger way in our lives.
  2. Reactive patterns often stem from avoiding certain emotions we don't want to feel, leading to unconscious behavior.
  3. Freedom and personal growth come from allowing ourselves to feel and be vulnerable, even if it is uncomfortable.

Responding to Loss with Courage and Compassion

Journal of Free Black Thought • 16 implied HN points • 28 Nov 24
🎭️ Culture Leadership Emotional Intelligence Human experience Personal Growth Community Engagement
  1. Leaders should face their losses openly instead of ignoring them. This helps them understand their emotions and grow stronger.
  2. True grit involves recognizing fears and failures, while false grit is about pretending everything is fine. Leaders should embrace vulnerability to inspire real courage.
  3. Understanding the emotional impact of loss is key for effective leadership. Leaders must help others process their losses to facilitate positive change.
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Insights from Peter Drucker's Iconic Book "The Effective Executive"

The Digital Leader Newsletter -- By John Rossman • 235 implied HN points • 20 Jul 23
💼 Business Management Leadership Decision-making Communication Innovation
  1. Being an effective executive is about managing yourself, not just others.
  2. Key practices for effective leadership include focusing on opportunities, not just problems, and running productive meetings.
  3. Decision-making involves understanding principles, making opinion-based choices, and following through with effective communication.

The Measurement Trap

Fish Food for Thought • 32 implied HN points • 30 Oct 24
💼 Business Management Marketing Strategy Leadership Productivity
  1. Relying too much on numbers for management can blind you to important factors. It’s essential to recognize that not everything that matters can be measured.
  2. Nike's recent struggles show how chasing measurable goals can hurt a company's core values. Ignoring brand loyalty and innovation for data-driven decisions can lead to serious problems.
  3. Good leaders need to balance what they measure with understanding the unmeasurable parts of their organization, like team morale and creativity. The best insights often lie outside the numbers.

Leaving the Military: What I Learned

The Radar • 119 implied HN points • 29 Jan 24
💼 Business Career transition Leadership Work Environment Communication Decision-making
  1. In civilian life, don't expect people to understand or care about your military experiences. You are a new kid on the block.
  2. Be cautious of trust and mutual support in civilian teams. Not everyone has the same values and can work against you.
  3. Job security is different in the civilian world. Always be prepared for uncertainties and be mindful of stricter performance expectations tied to pay.

Former Totalitarians

Desk Notes by Charles Schifano • 206 implied HN points • 15 Mar 24
💾 History Leadership Ethics Regime Decisions
  1. A life judged based on leadership in a horrific regime can be a critical aspect of history.
  2. Ethical individuals who foresaw the consequences but were not part of the consequential decisions can hold significant importance.
  3. The transition from being monstrous to making critical decisions in tough times can have lasting impacts on society.

Notes on Product management theater | Marty Cagan (Lenny's Podcast)

The Beautiful Mess • 330 implied HN points • 17 Mar 24
💼 Business Product Management Career development Tech Companies Leadership
  1. Common principles and practices among top product companies exist but may not fully capture the uniqueness and nuances of each company's success.
  2. During challenging times like the pandemic, companies may overhire, lower hiring standards, and create unnecessary roles instead of addressing core issues.
  3. Companies globally should strive to evolve product development methods based on customer needs, regardless of their location, and individuals should take more control over their product management career.

Great Leaders Don't Manage, They Conduct

Maestro's Musings • 52 implied HN points • 13 Sep 24
💼 Business Leadership Entrepreneurship Management Organization Innovation
  1. Great leaders act like conductors in an orchestra, guiding their teams with a clear vision and making sure every part works in harmony. They don’t just manage from a distance; they stay involved and connected.
  2. The concept of 'Founder Mode' emphasizes that founders should understand every aspect of their company and focus on what truly matters. This helps them lead effectively without getting lost in many details.
  3. Maestro's mission is to empower leaders and employees alike to see how their work fits into the bigger picture. When everyone understands their role, the whole team can perform better together.

The Morality Paradox

Who is Robert Malone • 18 implied HN points • 30 Nov 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Morality Agency Leadership Decision-making
  1. High-agency people have the ability to shape their own lives and pursue their goals actively. They take control and create opportunities instead of just waiting for them.
  2. Being goal-oriented is important, but high-agency individuals also display qualities like resilience, discipline, and creativity. They aren't just about making plans; they push through challenges.
  3. While high-agency behaviors can lead to great achievements, they may also come with a lack of empathy or ethical considerations. It's crucial for these individuals to balance ambition with integrity.

When Creatives Quit

The Intersection • 217 implied HN points • 27 Aug 23
💼 Business Management Creativity Career development Employment Leadership
  1. Quitting can be a complex decision, especially for creatives tied to visas or seeking new challenges.
  2. As managers, it's important to listen and not react immediately when creatives want to quit.
  3. Offering value beyond monetary incentives, nurturing like flowers, and accepting when it's time to let creatives go are key to managing a creative team.

The Case for Being a Hyper-Responsive Leader

America 2.0 (by Gary Sheng) • 216 implied HN points • 07 Jun 23
💼 Business Leadership Product Development Politics Collaboration Community Building
  1. Responsiveness is crucial for successful leadership in various fields like product development, community building, and politics.
  2. Being hyper-responsive fosters trust, builds brand loyalty, and enhances products or services.
  3. Maintaining a high level of responsiveness can differentiate you, attract allies, and lead to collaborations and growth.

Seeking truth from facts: China's stonewalling on Qin Gang's dismissal as FM has damaged its image as a responsible world power

Wang Xiangwei's Thought of the Day on China • 216 implied HN points • 31 Jul 23
🌍 World Politics China Leadership
  1. China's lack of transparency on Qin Gang's dismissal has harmed its reputation as a global power.
  2. The speculation and secrecy surrounding Qin's removal indicate potential weaknesses in China's political system.
  3. The decision to replace Qin with Wang is seen as a move to ensure stability in China's foreign policies.

Best of 2024 + Special offer on subscriptions

The Caring Techie Newsletter • 8 implied HN points • 28 Dec 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Coaching Personal Growth Leadership Marketing
  1. Embrace uncertainty in entrepreneurship. It's normal not to have all the answers, so just keep moving forward.
  2. Learn to detach emotions from your business decisions. Not every idea will succeed, and that's okay.
  3. Taking risks can lead to rewarding experiences. Following your passion can help you grow and achieve fulfillment.

575-page DOJ report on Uvalde is a roadmap to make every school safer

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports • 119 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics School Safety Emergency Response Leadership
  1. The 575-page DOJ report on Uvalde provides a roadmap for improving school safety by highlighting systemic failures and offering recommendations that need to be accessible to busy school administrators.
  2. The report emphasizes failures in public safety during a school shooting, including issues like communication breakdowns, lack of training, and poor incident management.
  3. Top recommendations from the DOJ report include active shooter training for police, establishing onsite incident commanders, and ensuring emergency radios are interoperable, pointing to systemic failures that need urgent attention.

Russia's Tragic Troika

Diane Francis • 719 implied HN points • 01 Sep 22
🌍 World Politics Russia Leadership History Geopolitics Conflict
  1. Mikhail Gorbachev tried to improve Russia by ending the Cold War and allowing more freedom, but his changes led to chaos and the fall of the Soviet Union. Many in the West praise him, while people in Russia hold a different view.
  2. Boris Yeltsin, who followed Gorbachev, struggled with corruption and poor leadership, which made life tough for Russians. He gave power to Vladimir Putin, who eventually took control and changed the country into a more authoritarian regime.
  3. The three leaders—Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin—represent different challenges for Russia. Instead of working for the people, their actions often hurt the nation and fueled ongoing problems both at home and abroad.

What is happening to medical students?

Vinay Prasad's Observations and Thoughts • 220 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
🏥 Health Politics AMA Political Activism Medical education Leadership
  1. Students shouting down speakers at the University of Chicago raised concerns about their behavior and the medical school's leadership.
  2. Debating whether the AMA should issue a statement on the war highlighted the complexities of making impactful statements and maintaining professional standards.
  3. The lack of courage in inviting diverse speakers and fostering debate in medical schools may contribute to a culture of protest among students.

When Orgs Become Siloed

Suzan's Fieldnotes • 98 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
💼 Business Leadership Organizational Culture Teamwork Management
  1. Leadership is a shared experience, not an individual effort. A siloed leadership team can lead to a siloed organization. To shift organizational behavior, start at the leadership layer.
  2. Signs of a siloed culture include individualism, rise of 'poop umbrellas', influence behind closed doors, and apathy turning into fear. These signs can lead to missed business goals and a slipping company culture.
  3. Siloed cultures often form unintentionally due to tough market conditions, organizational changes, focus on individual parts instead of the system, and lack of intentional culture. Realignment starts by rallying the team around shared objectives, identifying desired team culture, and rewarding desired values.

All Feedback is Projection

The Leadership Lab • 196 implied HN points • 19 Mar 23
🚌 Education Feedback Leadership Growth Learning Development
  1. Feedback is projection: Feedback you give others reflects aspects of yourself. What you judge in others can reveal your own traits.
  2. New paradigm of feedback: Move away from the old feedback model based on objective truth. Embrace the idea that feedback is a story and an opinion.
  3. Learning from feedback: By asking how feedback is true about yourself, you open up growth opportunities and deepen connections with others.

Founder DNA

The Leadership Lab • 196 implied HN points • 09 Mar 23
💼 Business Leadership Organizational Behavior Team Dynamics Personal Growth Feedback
  1. Every aspect of your team's culture reflects your strengths, blind spots, and dysfunctional behaviors as a leader.
  2. Founder DNA influences how teams adopt a leader's habits and behavioral patterns, leading to organizational dysfunction.
  3. Team culture stems directly from a leader's psychological and relational patterns, affecting how employees interact and behave within the organization.

Duct Tape

Lessons • 196 implied HN points • 05 Apr 23
💼 Business Leadership Management Team Building Hiring Organization
  1. Building a team after finding success is like patching holes in a leaky bucket.
  2. Prioritize hiring anchor leaders based on long-term importance and areas where duct tape won't suffice.
  3. Use duct tape solutions like interim leaders to fill temporary gaps while focusing on key leadership searches.

Why your Leadership team needs a candid self-assessment

The Leadership Lab • 196 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
💼 Business Leadership Management Self-assessment Team Dynamics Feedback
  1. Assessing your leadership team is crucial, as it impacts the overall success of the company.
  2. Conduct a candid self-assessment with your leadership team, focusing on good questions and embracing candor.
  3. Regularly assessing and addressing improvement areas within the leadership team can significantly boost a company's performance.

Navigating the Shift from Feature to Product Teams and Building a Product Mindset

An Innovator's Sketchbook • 98 implied HN points • 04 Feb 24
💼 Business Product Management Feedback Team Dynamics Leadership Organizational Culture
  1. Transitioning from feature to product teams involves empowering cross-functional teams focused on outcomes and value.
  2. The localization industry is evolving with AI, leading to job destruction but also creating new business opportunities.
  3. Feedback is important for team growth, and using the 'Situation-Behavior-Impact' framework can lead to effective and powerful feedback.

Vitamin A for Engineering Teams: Dogfooding your product

The Healthy Engineering Leader • 39 implied HN points • 13 May 24
💼 Business Management Team Building Product Development Leadership User Experience
  1. Vitamin A is important for clear vision, similar to how understanding customer needs helps engineering teams succeed. It helps teams develop a better grasp of their products.
  2. Dogfooding means team members use and test their own products. This practice helps catch bugs and fosters a deeper connection with the user experience.
  3. To promote dogfooding, leaders should encourage testing, celebrate contributions, and refine the process. This creates a culture of empathy and accountability within the team.

“There’s hidden treasure all over the world”

Building the Builders • 4 implied HN points • 14 Jan 25
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Innovation Work-life balance Career development
  1. Jesse Genet's journey shows the power of following your own ambitions despite societal pressures. She made tough choices to prioritize what felt right for her life.
  2. Self-honesty has been key for Jesse in her career and personal life. She regularly questions what she truly wants and believes, which helps her make important decisions.
  3. Jesse's experience emphasizes that embracing roles often seen as less ambitious, like motherhood, can be fulfilling and valuable. It's about finding meaning in whatever choice you make.

Ideas for the YIMBY Movement to Better Include Women | YIMBYtown 2024

Cornerstone • 79 implied HN points • 01 Mar 24
🎭️ Culture Gender Advocacy Diversity Inclusion Leadership
  1. Male leaders should take responsibility for inclusion in the YIMBY movement instead of relying on women
  2. Men could share the burden of administrative and backend work more actively to support women in the movement
  3. It is essential to seek out and affirm the qualifications of female leaders and candidates to enhance diversity and strength in YIMBY organizations

Bill vs. Ted

The Radar • 59 implied HN points • 03 Apr 24
💼 Business Leadership Promotions Processes Organizational Culture Decision-making
  1. In promotion processes, advocacy, arbitrariness, and detachment can influence outcomes, sometimes leading to the wrong candidate being chosen.
  2. The complexity and overbuilt nature of promotion processes can obscure the best candidate, favoring manipulation over merit.
  3. Balancing objectivity and fairness in promotions is crucial, as promoting the right people leads to positive organizational outcomes.