The hottest Leadership Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top World Politics Topics

This Should be the UK's Moment to Lead

Phillips’s Newsletter • 73 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
🌍 World Politics Leadership
  1. President Macron is actively trying to lead Europe's response to the Ukraine War, shifting the leadership from the UK with his powerful interventions.
  2. Macron's rhetoric like calling for a "strategic awakening" and the idea of European forces in Ukraine has received attention and impact.
  3. If Brexit had not happened, it would have likely been a UK Prime Minister taking the lead in rallying a European response.

Why would anyone follow you?

CRO Corner • 1 HN point • 02 Aug 24
💼 Business Leadership
  1. As a leader, it's important to let your team take charge and not get too involved in every detail. They need your motivation and vision more than your direct involvement.
  2. Attracting top talent is personal. You need to show what makes you unique and why someone would want to work with you, not just for a paycheck.
  3. Building trust within your team and offering clear career progression options is key. People want to feel safe and see a path for their growth.

The Shitty Stack System

Trying Truly • 124 HN points • 22 Jun 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Relying on fear and coercion for motivation can be damaging and counterproductive in the workplace.
  2. Implementing competitive ranking systems can lead to toxic work environments and hinder collaboration.
  3. Replacing negative incentives with positive sum dynamics, such as teamwork and personal development, can ultimately lead to greater success and organizational growth.

Perspectives 2025 in Review

Perspectives • 1 implied HN point • 08 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Leadership
  1. The community grew a lot in 2025, adding thousands of new readers and connecting people across platforms through shared interests like family, career, and wellbeing.
  2. Practical, human-centered topics resonated most—readers loved guidance on leadership and career (like executive presence), preparing for AI, and heartfelt personal stories about family and resilience.
  3. Collaboration and a distinct creative voice strengthened the work—guest contributors brought fresh perspectives and original hand-illustrations gave the publication a warm, personal look.
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How we built a business out of recession - chapter 31 - back the fuck off

The ZIPster • 26 implied HN points • 24 Jan 25
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Board meetings can get crowded and political, causing frustration among members. It's important to keep discussions focused and ensure everyone feels heard.
  2. Adapting to new ideas, like a data product, can help a company stay competitive. Valuing data is essential for creating new revenue opportunities.
  3. Conflict can arise when leadership roles and ideas clash. It's crucial to stand firm on important decisions to protect the team's vision and goals.

Welcome to QUALITY BOSS ✨

QUALITY BOSS • 19 implied HN points • 15 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Leadership
  1. The blog focuses on quality engineering and leadership in the tech industry. It's a space to share professional experiences and insights.
  2. It highlights the unique challenges and successes that women face in technology. This perspective aims to encourage others in the field.
  3. The author started writing as a hobby and wanted a platform to express her professional thoughts and advice. It's meant to be a community for exploration and learning.

3 Ways To Thrive.

The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past • 25 implied HN points • 19 Jan 25
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Finding balance is important. It means weighing the old ways against new ideas to grow and adapt.
  2. Unity helps teams succeed. When everyone shares a common goal and works together, they can achieve more than just individual talents.
  3. Integration is about blending different perspectives. It means accepting and using diverse opinions and ideas to create strong solutions.

"Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast"

The Radar • 19 implied HN points • 10 Oct 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Organizational culture is more than just values or behaviors; it's the prevailing attitudes, routine behaviors, and shared norms of an organization.
  2. To change a culture, leaders need to champion stated values persistently until they become ingrained in behaviors and routines.
  3. Creating a culture shift takes time and commitment; leaders can't simply dictate a new culture, it requires sustained effort to embed new values and behaviors.

Reasons to Have a Co-Founder (instead of going solo)

Texts with Founders • 8 implied HN points • 08 Aug 25
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Having a co-founder can help you share the workload, especially in the crucial early stages of building and selling your product. If you're not ready to handle both sides, partnering up makes sense.
  2. Co-founders can bring valuable industry experience that can boost your startup's success, especially if you're new to the field. It's great to work with someone who knows the ins and outs of the industry you’re entering.
  3. Some people are more motivated when working alongside others. If you thrive in a team environment, having a co-founder can inspire you and help you do your best work.

Steve Jobs Has Fallen off My Pedestal

Kartick’s Blog • 35 implied HN points • 03 Nov 24
🎭️ Culture Leadership
  1. Steve Jobs was seen as a hero, but his negative traits, like being manipulative, change that view. It's okay to admire someone's work but not their character.
  2. Elon Musk is also not a role model due to his unethical behavior and overconfidence. People often glorify individuals who don’t truly deserve it.
  3. We can learn useful lessons from anyone, even those with bad character. For example, effective leaders understand and connect with people's emotions.

The Historical Exceptionalism of US Escalation Policy and the War in Ukraine

Phillips’s Newsletter • 80 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
🌍 World Politics Leadership
  1. Different leaders and governments produce wildly different policies based on their perceptions of the world.
  2. US administrations, like the Biden Administration, exhibit exceptional fear of escalation in wars compared to the USSR and China in the past.
  3. Leaderships matter significantly in shaping foreign policy and responses to global conflicts.

Babble Hypothesis

Brain Lenses • 19 implied HN points • 16 Feb 23
🔬 Science Leadership
  1. Research suggests speaking more can be linked to leader emergence.
  2. Speaking more doesn't guarantee leadership perception or promotion.
  3. Be skeptical of the Babble Hypothesis due to earlier study limitations.

Telling Stories

Seth’s Substack • 19 implied HN points • 27 Mar 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. As a leader, your job is to communicate the company's vision effectively by telling a compelling story.
  2. In times of uncertainty, maintain the stability of your vision by staying calm, acknowledging doubts, and focusing on the next milestones.
  3. To strengthen your belief in the vision, explore your doubts, borrow belief from others, and be willing to reassess and find a new story if necessary.

Book summary - India after Gandhi

Rahul’s Newsletter • 19 implied HN points • 20 Jun 23
💾 History Leadership
  1. India survived challenges due to its diverse nature and lack of commonalities.
  2. Book 'India after Gandhi' covers historical events objectively, revealing major political misdeeds.
  3. Major highlights include the integration of princely states, the Kashmir issue, and constitutional developments.

Cultivating Bias to Action

Ways of Working • 19 implied HN points • 05 Apr 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Progress comes from actions not just ideas.
  2. Bias to action is a trait that anyone can cultivate.
  3. Removing organization blockers, setting the tone, and knowing your team are key for cultivating bias to action on a team/organization level.

Trump’s Coronavirus Response: ‘It Intentionally Was Never Under Control’

The Washington Current • 19 implied HN points • 23 Jul 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Leadership
  1. Donald Trump did not have control over the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to significant loss of American lives.
  2. Trump's administration disbanded pandemic response teams and disbanded critical CDC positions in response to the crisis.
  3. Bob Woodward's analysis reveals that Trump's poor response to the pandemic was intentional and marked by inaction and misinformation.

"My favorite colleague"

The Daily Developer • 19 implied HN points • 04 Aug 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Describing someone as your favorite colleague is a significant compliment as it reflects trustworthiness, professionalism, and skill.
  2. Proactively updating colleagues on your progress can elevate how they perceive you, improve your preparedness, and set a good example for the team.
  3. Taking the initiative to communicate with your team members will not only earn you more respect but also enhance collaboration and productivity.

RDEL #10: How much does task significance improve performance?

Research-Driven Engineering Leadership • 19 implied HN points • 18 Sep 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Connecting work with impact significantly improves performance. Demonstrated impact on performance by showing employees how their work benefits others.
  2. Engineers can lose empathy for the significance of their work especially on internal-facing teams. Engineering managers must find ways to connect engineering work with the end user to boost performance.
  3. Tying engineering tasks to real outcomes for customers boosts empathy and productivity. Strategies like sharing customer feedback and shadowing customer success teams can help engineers understand the impact of their work.

Building a Strong Team Culture

PeopleStorming • 19 implied HN points • 13 Jun 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Effective communication, active listening, and shared accountability are key in building a strong team culture.
  2. Creating spaces for open dialogue and using tools like retrospectives can help team members express thoughts and concerns.
  3. Establishing clear agreements, defining values, and fostering continuous conversation can empower individuals to drive change in the team culture.

Strategy for Startups

Ways of Working • 19 implied HN points • 08 May 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Strategy is the plan for an organization to achieve its vision.
  2. Startups go wrong by mistaking mission, vision, and goals for strategy, not eliminating options, and inducing strategy whiplash.
  3. Creating a strategy requires identifying the starting point, assessing company stage & purpose, gathering inputs, soliciting feedback, going on a PR tour, and executing & iterating.

Hire Executives Who Get Things Done

Build To Scale • 19 implied HN points • 12 Sep 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. When hiring senior executives, probe to understand their past actions and problem-solving approaches to gauge their potential fit with your company.
  2. Beware of big company executives transitioning to startups, as they might struggle with the hands-on, rapid decision-making environment and bring in unnecessary processes.
  3. Always personally check the references of potential executives to get genuine insights on their work ethics and impact.

Finnish news recap, week 15: 24 questions edition

Ahpocalypse Now • 19 implied HN points • 18 Apr 23
🌍 World Politics Leadership
  1. The government formation process in Finland involves sending 24 questions to other parties to find potential partners.
  2. The Åland demilitarization issue is a long-standing and complex topic due to historical conflicts between nations.
  3. Political leadership changes are happening in Finland, including resignations and potential successors being discussed.

Engineering Leadership Principles

Software Engineering by Hugo Dias • 19 implied HN points • 03 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Leadership
  1. High-performing teams have clear purpose, small size, stable structure, and autonomy for improvement.
  2. Ensuring project completion, minimizing waiting times, and shipping regularly are key to effective project delivery.
  3. Product success relies on setting clear goals, measuring progress, iterating frequently, and valuing team ideas in feature development.

A Tentative Manifesto for the Future of Organizations—2

Pluriversal Planet • 19 implied HN points • 13 Jun 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. The manifesto calls for organizations to slow down, pause, and reflect on their actions and impact.
  2. Wayfinders are organizations striving to move beyond human-centered designs towards life-affirming organization designs.
  3. Organizations should shift focus from processes and technology to relationships and communities, embracing pluriversality and interconnectedness.

Why can't SFPD shut down SF's drug markets?

Fava’s Substack • 19 implied HN points • 12 Jul 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Leadership
  1. SFPD is making drug arrests but faces challenges in executing them due to limited resources and restrictive policies.
  2. San Francisco's progressive policies and enablement contribute to the flourishing drug markets, making it a complex issue beyond just policing.
  3. To address the drug crisis, holistic policy, budgetary, and leadership changes are necessary, requiring the involvement and support of voters.

5/19/2023: The Wonder Boy Tragedy

The Great Reset Diary 2022- • 19 implied HN points • 19 May 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Success can be detrimental, especially for extremely successful people who may struggle to cope with their situation.
  2. Extremely successful individuals are often treated as symbols and icons, leading to a disconnect in human interactions and judgment.
  3. Having honest friends who can provide accountability and keep individuals grounded may help prevent self-destructive behavior in the face of extreme success.

ownership

Splattern • 19 implied HN points • 18 Aug 23
💼 Business Leadership
  1. Taking responsibility for both successes and failures can build trust in professional relationships. It shows honesty and accountability.
  2. Confidence in communication can change how others perceive you. When you believe in what you're saying, it can improve interactions significantly.
  3. It's important to view feedback from a positive angle. Believing that your boss wants you to succeed can motivate you to improve and foster a better work environment.