So, do you grow your own leaders from within, or hire someone new with – presumably – the leadership skills you need are unable to find inside your organization?  What do you tell yourself to justify not developing those skills from within your organization?  How about these?  See if any sound familiar...

"I don't have anyone ready to 'step-up.'" "Leadership development is expensive." "If I train them, they'll just leave and join the competition."

Please.  I've heard them all, and many more just like these.  Some are urban myths, some are akin to the business version of "old wives' tales."  All are dumb.  Worse, however, is that some are actually damaging to your organization.

For example:

I don't have anyone ready to step up.  Really??  You have no one on your staff, or available to you, who with proper development, coaching, and mentoring could step into a more responsible role?

My first comment is "not likely."  If you really believe that, though, here's some free advice: Whack 'em all and start over.  Simple statistical odds are that some should be ready or capable of becoming ready; if not, our hiring process is so remiss that blowing it up and starting over may be the only option.    

It costs too much.  Again with the "really??"  How much does it cost, in revenue, earnings, and your time, to re-tell, re-advise, re-answer, and re-work?  How about the conflicts that apparently only you can resolve? Aren't you tired of having to make every decision yourself?

What sort of productivity gains are you missing by not having competent and skilled managers and supervisors at all levels of the leadership food chain?

If I train them, they'll just leave.  So then, your choices seem to be either train someone who may eventually leave, or keeping that person without the necessary, relevant knowledge.  You're not seriously weighing this, are you?

Why "grow our own" leaders?  In my mind, there are three simple reasons:

1. It ensures continuity.  Someone who has seen, experienced and "lived" the functional day-to-day may better understand what issues and challenges are significant.  Yes, sometimes we need an outsider to provide some new-blood thinking, but not at the expense of continuity and corporate memory.

2.It sends a positive message.  Advancement opportunities are a big reason that good people stay – including you.  Promoting a deserving candidate trumps and external hire 24x7 in that regard.

3.They already know, understand, and more importantly fit our culture.  Let's face it --  though valuable, skills are a dime a dozen on the open market.  They just aren't that difficult to find (including mine and yours).  What's difficult is finding those skills wrapped up in someone intelligent enough to learn our jobs, and who also fits our current culture. 

Except in very unique circumstances, developing current staff to assume future leadership roles always, always, benefits the organization in big ways.  Many of you reading this have been promoted into your roles, so you clearly understand the value.  

We can – we really can – teach and develop the skills necessary to "grow your own," so keep that in mind before thinking there's "greener grass" in a newly hired manager... 

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Don’t forget to be brazen, and that grace and accountability can coexist.

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When companies face financial difficulties (especially when layoffs are involved), it’s common for CEOs to announce that they will cut their own pay as a way to demonstrate their commitment to the company's financial well-being and to show some warped sense of solidarity with employees who may be facing pay their own cuts or job loss. 

I call bullshit. It’s solely symbolic, does nothing, and frankly, is a bit insulting.

Firstly, cutting CEO pay doesn’t address the underlying financial issues facing the company. It may provide some insignificant relief, but does zippo to address root causes, like declining sales, poor management, or an outdated business model.

Next, CEOs that have their pay cut have generally negotiated this with the Board. In other words, they controlled or influenced the timing, the amount, the manner, and the duration – all before announcing said cut to the world. For the rest of the organization – whether 100 employees or 100,000, they control nada. They just get hit in the face with it on a Friday afternoon

Lastly, cutting CEO pay can also look like a CEO avoiding accountability for the company's financial difficulties. By cutting their pay, hope to look like just one of the guys, a victim to the the powers that be – even though they ARE the powers that be.

Cutting CEO pay may seem like a noble gesture, and I’ll concede there are some times when it can be exactly that – though I would argue we seldom know about those, because they seldom come with a PR blitz and press releases.

More frequently, it’s disingenuous and fails to address the root causes of the underlying problems. CEOs should instead focus on addressing the underlying operational challenges and taking responsibility for the company's financial performance. In short – do your job. Do that and be worth the money you’re paid.

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Don’t forget to be brazen, and that grace and accountability can coexist.

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Layoffs are becoming all too common today; Some 300 companies have laid off over 100,000 employees in 2023 alone – and those are just the ones that made the news. Tech companies make the headlines, but they aren’t alone, with diverse industries such as Boeing aerospace and Aetnahealth joining in, for example.

Layoffs are often seen as a necessary measure to stay afloat during difficult times. Yeah well, this ain’t that. The top 5 layoff culprits are responsible for over half of that 100K total, and they are universally using a doom and gloom “recession” forecast as their prospective-looking rationale for these deep cuts in people.

Kinda bullshit, though. Just those 5 companies account for well over a trillion in annual revenue, a 15% increase year over year. Earnings for those guys approach 300B, and reflect a near-20% y over y gain.
Yeah, Kevin, but their’s a recession coming!

Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t. Maybe we’ve been in one, maybe we haven’t. Maybe it’s just cover for bad leader behavior. For example: those same top 5 I’ve mentioned are ALL—ALL 5 – forecasting growth in 2023, from 5% to upwards of 12%.

I gotta say, if they’re using recession, they’re doing it wrong.
Further, if each of these companies can cut 10,000 employees, saving several billions in administrative and operating costs ANNUALLY, what they hell have they been doing before today? If their business model continues to grow the enterprise at breakneck speeds after a 10% people cut, what does that say about the leader effectiveness to date?

Inquiring minds…

Anywhoo, layoffs should never be a starting point; save those for bad times, requiring the hardest of decisions. From a leadership perspective, regardless of impetus, layoffs represent poor leadership for several reasons.

Firstly, layoffs indicate a failure of planning and foresight. If layoffs seem unavoidable and necessary, it means that the leaders failed to adequately plan and were unable to find workable solutions to maintain the workforce.

Second, layoffs universally have a negative impact on employee morale and trust. This leads to a decrease in employee engagement, motivation, job satisfaction, and most importantly, discretionary effort. Hard to set the world on fire while keeping your head down avoiding eye contact. Quiet quitting sound familiar? It’s a culture killer.

Lastly, layoffs can screw up the company's reputation. The negative publicity and decline in customer trust can be difficult to recover from, and can make future recruitment even harder – especially for A-players
Except for exceptional circumstances, unplanned layoffs generally represent poor leadership because of a failure in planning, the negative impact on morale and trust, and can be brutal to a the company's reputation.

Explore alternative solutions and a more strategic approach before this nuclear option. May require some out-of-box thinking, but it’s worth it.
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Don’t forget to be brazen, and that grace and accountability can coexist.

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First, let me be clear: the vast majority of non-sales employees, from receptionist to Senior Vice President, don’t necessarily work for the money alone.  

That’s not to say that money’s not important – Zig Ziglar is fond of saying that “Anyone that tells you ‘money doesn’t matter,’ well, they’ll lie about other things as well.”  Money always matters, it’s just not always the most significant motivator. 

So, now I’m going to mess with your head a bit, with a play on words: Money only matters, when it matters.  No, I’m not talking out of both sides of my mouth here.  Consider that, when hired, an employee is generally satisfied with their compensation.  Not to say they wouldn’t accept more (see above), but generally, it seems “ok.”

Further, it was still ok last year.  Or last month. Or yesterday.  But, all of a sudden, it’s not ok.  It matters now.  What happend?  

Three things can cause money to matter:

1. Thinking under the influence.  No, not driving under the influence, but thinking about money under the influence of an outside instigator.  Could be a spouse, a friend, or prior boss trying to lure him/her away.  Something externally, though, is influencing them to make money matter right now.

2. It ain’t fair.  Somehow, some way, the employee discovered that someone equal to or below them in their perceived food chain makes as much or more than them.  And they don’t like it.  My pay was fine, until I compared it to another’s.  Now, it isn’t.

We sometimes do this to ourselves, because sometimes we’re just stupid.  We believe – some of us really do – that special deals and higher-than-normal compensation arrangements can be “kept secret.”  And, in fact, they can. For about a nano-second.  

Always make “deals” with the understanding that others – particularly the one(s) you’re most concerned with – will discover the arrangements. Because they will.

3. Finally, you owe me.  Maybe you just got promoted, and I want my “cut.”  Maybe you were just rewarded because you single-handedly saved some portion of our corporate planet.  Only you used my “single-hands.”  Maybe the last three people that had this job were promoted at about this time.

Or maybe, I just feel the give/take equation has become out-of-balance.  

Regardless of the reason, I’m convinced that you personally, boss, now owe me.  I’m not talking a 3.5% cost-of-living increase (which you shouldn’t be doing anyway, but that’s another article), I’m talking about a debt that you personally must pay in the way of earned, extra compensation.

So remember two things:  (1)  Money is, generally, not a huge motivator for non-sales employees.  This must be tempered, however, with  (2)  Money doesn’t matter, until it matters.

And when it does matter, find out first what’s driving the issue.  Strangely enough, it’s usually not just the money.

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Don’t forget to be brazen, and that grace and accountability can coexist.

"Is there a difference between giving feedback or giving criticism as a leader? Seems like the same thing to me."

The differences seem subtle, but in reality, they're pretty damned big. And from a results perspective, the differences are huge.

Huge differences. Most have to do with intent and desired outcome.
Criticism, in its simplest form, is for the giver, not the recipient. To criticize is one of the easiest forms of ego defense, and is generally a display of defensiveness and lack of personal confidence. We criticize most when someone aspires to accomplish what we cannot (or will not), or when their accomplishment could somehow threaten ours.

It’s acting out hurtfully with negative thinking.

Feedback, on the other hand, is principally to help someone grow and improve. To positively change a behavior for the better. In other words, it’s more of what we recommend they do, and less of what they did wrong.

Further, if we include some self-reflection in our feedback — opening ourselves to others -- we both grow. Our blind spots will be forever blind without effective feedback from others, and people are more inclined to be open with those who have been similarly open with them.

This mutual feedback process builds trust and strengthens relations among teams, groups and even individuals.

In short, criticism is selfish, feedback is helpful.

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Be Brazen, remembering that Grace and Accountability can coexist.

Courageous Leadership.

I’m not talking about hand-to-hand, gun-to-gun, charge the hill type of courage. No, bravery in battle is not the same thing as courageous leadership. And make no mistake about it—leaders need courage to be successful.

Nobody wants to follow a coward. It’s that simple. And yes, cowardice is the opposite of courage, no matter how much that word hurts.

Courage means strength of character; to push forward in the face of resistance. Strength of character for new thinking, new ideas, challenges to status quo. Courage is saying what others may not want to hear, and holding the line on performance and behavior expectations. It’s calling out the elephant in the room, swinging at the 3-2 pitch, shining light on skeletons in the closet, and pummeling any of a dozen other, pithy idioms and analogies. It’s doing the right thing, even when doing right can leave a mark.

It takes courage to lead.

But what exactly does that mean? Is there a “do-this-and-you’ll-be-courageous” guide or pdf we can download? Is there a 12-step program for courage? Well, no. Courage, like leadership, is situational. The answer to every question is the ubiquitous “it depends.”

Courageous Leaders lead. From the front. Setting direction, discussing a vision, charting a course, and making course corrections when needed. But what about specific actions? What can you do—today—if you want to demonstrate real courage in leadership? Well, there are a few things that courageous leaders often do:

 • Make decisions. Leaders are decision makers. Period. If waiting for additional information may LIKELY change your current thinking, then wait. If not, you’re just stalling—pull the trigger. See my blog post here at BrazenLeader.com for a related article.

 • Set big-ass goals, objectives and personal standards. Your level of excellence and expectation for your product, service, or experience should be damned near unattainable. Safe goals are set by safe leaders. Safe leaders have safe visions. Safe visions produce status-quo. Decidedly NON-courageous. Big goals are set by big leaders; courageous goals by courageous leaders. This isn’t rocket science. Give your people a goal that scares them, and you’ll produce leaders who know what it means to overcome fear.

 • Empower others. This takes rock-star courage from a leader. Learn to say YES when subordinates suggest a path. You’ve got to let go, and allow others to succeed. Are some going to disappoint? Yep. That’s why it takes courage. Some will let you down, some will not be up to the task. Still others may take a non-courageous route on your empowered dime. Suck it up, buttercup. It’s what courageous leaders do.

 • Learn to say NO. Not every risk is a good one. Be courageous, and courageously disciplined. Aggressively pursue those few things that make sense. Say no to everything else—even if it means saying no more often than you're comfortable.

 • Demand failure. You read that correctly. Demand failure. The real road to success isn’t paved with perfection—it’s paved with failures and near-misses. Allow—even encourage—your team to fail as they drive toward success. Reward innovation. Innovation requires taking risks. And bold risks create bold team members. I have a client CEO who consistently and constantly is telling his leadership team to try so hard—get so far in front of comfort—that some failure is almost guaranteed. Embrace it.

Courage is not the absence of fear; it is confronting your fears and overcoming. Courageous leaders face their fears, step up, and charge ahead, knowing that accelerating through the fear is the very cure for fear itself.



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EQ (Emotional Intelligence) is a good thing, right? Goodness knows, all the books, articles and blogs certainly say it is. I half expect to read about Emotional Intelligence ending world hunger, or staving off a devastating hurricane.

I say let’s get a grip, people.

EQ isn’t a do-all-be-all cure to everything that ails us. It’s a personality-based behavior trait with fairly dubious detection methodology (I’ve never met a test/assessment/profile I couldn’t “game”). Further, even if we can accurately detect it, does it always mean something good?

Not in the hands of the wrong person. In fact, it can be downright hazardous to others. Or, at a minimum, a colossal pain in the derriere. 

At its core, Emotional Intelligence is about the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others, generally through emotional awareness, an ability to harness and apply emotions, and the ability to manage and/or regulate your emotions to influence others (Psychology Today).

It’s that last part that should concern us. “…and the ability to manage and/or regulate your emotions to influence others.” As my pastor likes to say, let’s unpack that a bit… If you’re really good at controlling your emotions, you are likely adept at hiding your true feelings. About anything. If at the same time you can easily tell what others are feeling, well, the clear line between influence and manipulation can all but disappear.

EQ is simply a measurement—it’s neutral. It can be used for good (to help and support self and others), or it can be used for evil (to advance my needs at the cost of others). In its evil form, EQ is true Machiavellianism-- manipulating others to achieve one's own goals. Selfish, narcissistic. When used in this way, other people become social tools to be used to push oneself forward even at considerable expense to them. 

So, what to do? How, then, do we keep Machiavelli at bay while enjoying the potential fruits of enhanced EQ (assuming that’s what we want)? Is there a way to minimize the bad while keeping the good? Here’s a few solutions to consider:

1. Deglamorize EQ. It’s simply a combination of personality traits and coping skills. Lots of EQ research says that 60+% of those with high EQ are successful at their jobs. Well, every U.S. President since Harry Truman has worn black Allen Edmonds shoes. Since I wear black Allen Edmonds shoes, it’s should be just a matter of time before my Secret Service detail arrives, right? Not likely. I’ve got enough skeletons in my closet to do a presentable wave at an NFL game.

That’s the difference between causation and correlation. Just like MBTI and DiSC, simply identifying a set of characteristics or traits doesn’t ensure success any more than my black Allen Edmonds will make me President. My Myers-Briggs ENTJ and my DiSC high-D don’t make me successful… or not. They simply help me and others understand my behavior, as scary as that may be.

2. Closely mentor the high EQs, using proven, positive leadership. If many academics and authors are correct, High Emotional Intelligence could be an indicator of potential, so that’s one reason to mentor them. Another is to make sure that they develop positively. Even well-intentioned pupils will visit the dark side if their role model or example is so inclined. Make sure that doesn’t happen.

3. Finally, call out errant behavior. High EQ folks are sharp. Most have above average intelligence (not the emotional kind), and are adept at fending off those who question their actions. You’ve got to call them out, simply and swiftly, when you see the negative behaviors. Be specific, and explain why the behavior is unacceptable.

Be Brazen, remembering that Grace and Accountability can coexist.

Thanks for listening.

Change is simple; just close your eyes, hold your breath, and wait. It happens.

Effective change management, on the other hand, takes some skill. From my view of the world, 3 things are necessary for senior executives to successfully drive positive change:

• Belief and commitment. You gotta believe -- really believe -- that what you are doing is right and appropriate, using a variety of litmus tests. Mid-management, supervisors, and/or line employees will quickly detect if your commitment is anything but resolute.

Change management isn't for the weak at heart, so strap in, point the way, and hold the course (I always wanted to use that line).

• Provide direction. Even if people can believe in your resolve, and even if they understand the basic need, they need real direction, from YOU, to know where to head. Don't expect overnight adjustment and buy-in to your newfound commitment for change; until that real buy-in occurs, they need a really good map--a compass is probably a better word--to help them start off in the right direction.

Point the way. With credibility.

If you don't have the credibility... well, I have some bad news. Your change efforts will not succeed.

• Unqualified support for the cause. Pay attention here, this one's really, really important. Not only can you not afford to lose your focus (see "commitment" above), but you must insist others join in the quest.

You must insist.

Help them work through their issues, convince--as best as possible--for the need to change. At the end, though, the change must occur, and you must be prepared to make all those decisions necessary, some good, some tough, to make it happen.

Naysayers can be a fatal distraction. Disbelievers can poison an effective team. Misdirected managers can ruin the entire effort. Make sure you stay aware, and be prepared to do whatever is necessary to ensure the focus is maintained by all.

The enemy (market, economy, industry, whatever) is upon us; we have work to do, and some unique challenges facing us.

Time to charge that hill... and like the real generals of old, organizations charge best and most successful when their leaders are out front. So be brazen.

And remember that Grace and Accountability can coexist.

Thanks for listening

Recently, I mentioned the concept of tracer rounds in a LinkedIn post. I received a surprising handful of emails asking to flesh that out a bit, so abracadabra, here we are. I think the concept of tracer rounds fits today’s decision-making model perfectly.



Ready, aim, fire



Even though it was used in the movie Ben Hur (along with that other period gaffe, the red sports car), the phrase Ready, Aim, Fire! was probably made popular in the 18th century sometime to help infantrymen with musket practice and dueling colleagues be civil with their killing..



Think about it… “Get ready,” means just that – assume posture and preparedness; “Aim” is to align the weapon’s barrel with the target; and “Fire!” means to set fire to the musket powder, sending a musket ball downrange toward the intended target.



Of course, it was also used in those unsavory firing squads, but the original principal held true.


Get ready, take aim, and fire.



And in all fairness, this was a practical analogy for business decision-making for decades. Get ready (identify the problem); Aim (use available information to make a decision); Fire (execute the decision).



Makes perfect sense. Except we would usually screw up the order of things.



Sometimes it was “Ready, aim, aim, aim…” as we kicked the can down the road with cowardly stalling tactics, always “fixin’  to do something (Texas vernacular), irritating every competent employee within shooting distance. Too often, NO decision became THE decision.



Other times it was “Ready, fire, fire, fire…” as we made rapidly successive decisions void of any appreciable thought, knee-jerking our way to abysmal failure and more frustrated employees who had to clean up our collective messes.



Then, there was “Ready, fire, aim…” This one got an unwarranted bad rap. Too often it was considered the impulsive act of a manager not needing (or wanting) input from anyone else; s/he had all the information needed to do whatever s/he wanted. I think it was wrongly placed since likely, that manager never did take aim. At least not with any appreciable thought.



Ready, fire, aim actually works pretty well, as long as we use a feedback loop to keep it going. Something like Ready, fire, aim, fire, aim, fire… where each successive “Fire!” acts a decision-maker’s tracer rounds (tracers). Used in machine guns, tracers allowed gunners to see the ending point of the fired round, and adjust their future shooting based on that new information.

Thanks for listening. Always remember to Be Brazen, remembering that grace & accountability can coexist.


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Ok, as Forrest Gump so adroitly quoted his mother, “Stupid is as stupid does,” and I certainly don’t mean to call anyone reading this “stupid,” per se, but leading in challenging times isn’t hugely different from day-to-day leadership.

But, it’s not the same, either. Some priorities shift.

We know for certain that burying our head in the sand and pretending that nothing is going on is positively insane.  It’s like your 2 year-old child closing his or her eyes and saying, “you can’t see me.”

Though many leadership skills are timeless, and probably should be exhibited anyway, there are always times when certain skills have more value than others. Leadership is, after all, situational.

If you find yourself between two slugs arguing, it’s probably not the time to haul out your skills at articulating your leadership vision. A necessary skill, to be sure, but at that moment, conflict resolution knowledge would be really helpful. 

Situational, see?

There are 5 keys to leading effectively during these times; they aren’t necessarily difficult, but to ignore them will certainly make your life more difficult. 

1. See and be seen. Visibility is a big deal. Now’s not the time to hide out in your office, pining away the days or lamenting for better times. Get out, be seen, be available, and most importantly, be heard. High visibility coupled with credibility is a near-guarantee of success in uncertain times. People need to see you and see you frequently. Hopefully face-to-face, if your environment and social distancing allow. Otherwise, lots of phone calls, zoom calls, videos and texts.

2. Want cheese with that whine? No open complaining, commiserating, or whining. Not now (assuming it was ever ok, which you know, of course, that it isn’t) especially. Your folks don’t need to know that you feel as out of control as they do. It doesn’t help them, or you, to believe that things are hurtling out of everyone’s control. I can’t promise that your positivity will always result in their positivity, but I can promise that any negativity will spread like wildfire.

3. Remember, you were young once. Put yourself in employees’ shoes; this is uncomfortable, and there are plenty of unknowns.  Lots of things are changing around them, and they are neither fully aware of the rationale, nor in control of, any of those things changing. They need you to chart a course, plan, devise a strategy, set courses, directions, goals and objectives. Make sure all are aware of them, and why they exist. This is a big deal. 

4. Ask and ye shall receive. Now’s the time to ask for input, comment, and feedback from all, and do so frequently. Help people understand as best you can, explaining why things are happening (when you know), and why we’re taking this specific action. But in the end, they’ve got to do what’s necessary to help your organization (and themselves) weather this storm. 

5. Execute. No, I don’t mean public hangings or firing squads, as tempting as they may be. I mean taking decisive action. A key component in motivation and employee trust – in helping employees see that all is not lost, that forward progress isn’t stalled, and that someone is in charge – is the act of action. Think, decide, act. A cornerstone of exemplary leadership, and a management skill that serves us all very well. 

Thanks for listening. Always remember to Be Brazen, remembering that grace & accountability can coexist.

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