Best Lessons on Leadership, Work, and Supervision

In this episode, I step back and reflect on the most consistent lessons that have emerged over the past few months of writing I’m Just Getting Started. These aren’t textbook leadership theories — they’re field notes from real work, real people, and real moments where leadership shows up quietly and imperfectly.

This conversation pulls together themes around energy, trust, supervision, humility, patience, and the deeply human side of leading and working alongside others.

In this episode, we explore:

Why leadership is more about judgment and timing than having the right answers

The difference between managing time and managing energy — and why energy always wins

How promoting great doers often sets new leaders up for early struggle

Why capacity can masquerade as leadership in small teams (until it can’t)

The fragile relationship between trust and loyalty in modern work

Why politeness, humility, and accountability still matter more than authority

How breaking bread builds trust in ways meetings never will

Why wisdom often means not learning every lesson the hard way

What it costs to lead — or simply work — while carrying pain

How self-awareness becomes one of the most underrated professional skills

This episode is about leadership as it actually feels — messy, relational, unfinished — and about why paying attention often matters more than having control.

Key takeaway:Great leadership isn’t built on perfection or certainty. It’s built on awareness, humanity, and the willingness to keep learning — even (and especially) when things are complicated.

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