Leadership
How to lead a team and make hard calls when everything rests on you.
19 reads
Delegate or die: the ceiling of the owner who does everything
If your business depends on you being there all day, you don't have a business: you have a very stressful job. Here's how to break that ceiling.
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Hire for attitude, train the skill
Technique can be taught in weeks; attitude rarely changes. Here's how to interview for values and why a bad hire costs more than you think.
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Culture eats strategy for breakfast
You can have the best plan in the world, but if your team doesn't share the habits that hold it up, the plan stays on paper. Why culture decides more than strategy does.
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Close-up leadership: why the best bosses ask questions
Giving orders is easy; asking is the hard part. Bosses who listen and give context get far more from their teams than those who just command.
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Decide with data without drowning in it
Measuring is fine, but a business runs on decisions, not reports. Here is how to use the numbers without getting trapped in them.
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Failure as raw material: companies that came back
Apple, Marvel and Lego all came within a step of vanishing. What they did with the stumble mattered far more than the stumble itself.
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Time is the one resource you never get back
You can recover money, win back customers, even rebuild a reputation. Time, never. That's why the owners who win over the long run guard it with the same discipline they use to guard their cash.
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How to delegate without losing control in a small team
Delegating isn't dump-and-pray, nor is it watching every step. It's handing off the task while keeping the responsibility. We walk you through the levels of delegation so your team grows without you losing control.
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How to hire your first employee without getting it wrong
Hiring your first person is one of the most exciting and risky steps in a business. Here's the step-by-step guide to doing it at the right time, with the right person, and with no legal surprises.
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How to give feedback to your team
Telling someone that something is not working is one of the hardest parts of leading a team. There is a way to do it that lowers the other person's defenses and leaves everything clearer, not tenser.
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How to run meetings that aren't a waste of time
Most meetings could have been a message. But when you do need one, a good meeting decides things and frees up your team's day. Here are the research-backed practices that make yours worth the time.
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How to motivate a small team without overspending
Money matters, but it is not what fires people up. What truly motivates a small team is cheaper and far more powerful than you think.
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How to create your business culture from day one
Your business culture isn't a plaque on the wall or a couple of pizzas on Fridays. It's the values and habits that decide how work gets done, and they form from day one, whether you plan them or not.
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How to resolve conflicts within your team
Conflict between two people who work together is inevitable. What separates a good leader from a bad one isn't avoiding it, but having a map to handle it according to the situation in front of you.
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How to run a fair performance review
Sitting down to tell someone how their work is going is awkward, and done badly it breeds resentment. This is the guide to making the conversation fair, clear, and useful for both of you.
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Servant leadership: putting your team first
The idea is old but powerful: the best leaders serve first and lead second. Here is where servant leadership comes from and how to apply it in a small business.
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How to thank and recognize your team
Recognizing your people well is one of the cheapest, most powerful levers you have as an owner. The science is clear, and most people do it badly.
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Leadership in times of crisis
A drop in sales, a supplier that fails, a pandemic. In a crisis your team doesn't need a perfect speech: they need to see you calm and present.
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How to be a good boss without being a friend
Wanting your team to like you is natural, but mixing friendship and management gets you into trouble. The good news: you can be close without being friends.
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