Things Leaders Do: Leadership for Managers and Executives

Leading through layoffs means communicating clearly and compassionately, supporting both the people leaving and the people staying, and preparing before the announcement. It's one of the hardest things a leader ever walks a team through, whether you're delivering the news or answering questions you didn't write the answers to. Colby Morris covers how to lead through a restructuring step by step, then answers listener questions sent in on LinkedIn and email: whether your leadership style should change in a crisis, how to balance cost cutting with people's well-being, and what a brand-new leader should do when it lands on them first. He also shares how, facing a reduction in force of more than 40 positions across two departments at a hospital, he reduced the number of people who actually lost their jobs.

How do you tell your team about layoffs?
Why clear beats soft, the details you need before you walk in, and why you become the subject matter expert whether you asked to or not.

How do I lead the people who weren't laid off?
The group most leaders forget, and how to set expectations for them.

Should my leadership style change during a crisis?
Colby's two-part answer depends on how you were leading before the crisis started.

In Colby's words
"You are addressing real people with real problems." (Colby Morris)

Resources mentioned

• Brené Brown
• Simon Sinek

Related episodes

• What Happens After Your Company Gets Acquired (And How to Lead Through It)
• Leading Through Bad News: How to Lead with Clarity, Compassion, and Trust

Support the show

• Colby's LinkedIn Profile
• NXTStepAdvisors.com

Setting clear performance expectations means making the goal specific and measurable, tracking it every month, and modeling the standard of excellence yourself. Early in his career, Colby Morris watched a team miss a year-end goal and start blaming each other, because he had never made the expectation clear. He shares three points for setting expectations your team can actually meet: the Clarity Principle, how to turn a big departmental number into a monthly goal each manager owns, and how to build a culture where excellence is the norm. You'll hear a real example of breaking a goal down with SMART goals, why he planned for 1,200 when the target was 1,000, and the quote that hung in his office everywhere he worked.

How do I set clear performance expectations for my team?
The Clarity Principle (Colby Morris): no one can hit a target they can't see. Plus what ambiguity costs a team.

How do I turn a department goal into individual targets?
A worked example built with SMART goals, and how monthly tracking keeps everyone honest.

In Colby's words
"Ambiguity leads to failure." (Colby Morris)

Resources mentioned

• Brené Brown, Dare to Lead
• SMART goals
• Steve Jobs

Related episodes

• Employee Reviews That Don't Suck (And Actually Grow Your People) Part 1
• When to Address Underperformance (Part 1 of 2)
• How to Hold Someone Accountable Without Micromanaging

Support the show

• Colby's LinkedIn Profile
• NXTStepAdvisors.com

Effective leadership communication starts with listening, not talking: give people your full attention, be yourself, and prepare for the hard conversations. Most leaders think communicating well means giving better speeches. It's really about how you handle the dozens of conversations you have every day, including the ones you'd rather avoid. Colby Morris walks through the three parts of communicating well as a leader: active listening, authenticity, and navigating tough conversations. You'll hear why the email alert flashing on your screen is quietly wrecking your conversations, the questions that get you clarity instead of assumptions, and how to walk into a hard conversation with a plan instead of a knot in your stomach.

What is active listening, and how do I actually do it?
Colby breaks active listening into three habits, starting with one he calls Eyes Up, Devices Down, plus the clarifying questions he asks before ending any conversation.

How should a leader prepare for a tough conversation?
Why preparing on paper matters (especially for introverted leaders), how to stay curious instead of defensive, and what to aim for when the other person won't agree with you.

In Colby's words
"Seek resolution, not agreement." (Colby Morris)

Resources mentioned

• Andy Stanley

Related episodes

• Lead with Clarity: 3 Steps to Better Team Communication
• How to Have Tough Conversations with Employees
• Mastering Leadership Communication: Be a Chief Reminding Officer

Support the show

• Colby's LinkedIn Profile
• NXTStepAdvisors.com

Leaders win back time by owning their calendar, protecting blocks of focused work, and addressing the issues and meetings that keep stealing it. Part one was about finding your lost time. Part two is about keeping it. Colby Morris covers steps three and four of his approach to time management for leaders: owning your schedule and addressing the issues you've been avoiding. You'll hear how he color-codes his calendar, the end-of-day habit that sets up tomorrow, and how report days give you hours of uninterrupted work without leaving your team stranded. He also tackles missed deadlines, low performers, and too many meetings, plus the two meetings he recommends instead. Each step stands on its own, so you don't need part one first.

How do I get uninterrupted time without abandoning my team?
How report days work, and the rule that changes what your team brings to you.

How do I address an employee who keeps missing deadlines?
The exact words Colby uses, and why he frames it that way.

What meetings should a manager actually hold?
A five-minute daily pre-shift meeting, and the Level 10 meeting from EOS.

In Colby's words
"I teach my team that for every question they ask me, they should bring me two solutions." (Colby Morris)

Resources mentioned

• T.D. Jakes
• John Spence
• EOS Level 10 meeting
• James Clear, Atomic Habits
• Garrison Wynn

Related episodes

• Time Management for Leaders, Part I
• How to Hold Someone Accountable Without Micromanaging
• When to Address Underperformance (Part 1 of 2)

Support the show

• Colby's LinkedIn Profile
• NXTStepAdvisors.com

Leaders get time back by first measuring the distractions that steal it, then setting their deadlines earlier than the real ones. If deadlines keep sneaking up on you and the day disappears into drop-ins, surprise meetings, and email, this is where to start. In part one of a two-part series, Colby Morris covers the first two steps of his four-step approach to time management for leaders. You'll get a simple exercise for finding out where your hours actually go, two lists that show you what to delegate and what to stop doing entirely, and the case for shortening your own deadlines, built on a team report that arrived on time and was too full of errors to use.

How do I figure out where my time goes as a leader?
The six distractions that hit leaders every day, and how to total up what they cost you.

Why should I set deadlines earlier than they're due?
Parkinson's Law, and how far ahead Colby sets his own deadlines and his team's.

In Colby's words
"Distractions don't look like distractions until they're done distracting you." (Colby Morris)

Resources mentioned

• Peter Drucker
• Brian Tracy
• Parkinson's Law

Related episodes

• Time Management for Leaders, Part II
• The 4 Questions to Stop Making Every Decision
• You're Delegating Wrong

Support the show

• Colby's LinkedIn Profile
• NXTStepAdvisors.com

A one-on-one is a regularly scheduled meeting about the employee, not you, built to strengthen the relationship, give feedback, and support their growth. Colby Morris admits he got one-on-ones wrong early on: he did most of the talking, it came across as a lecture, and he probably did more harm than good. Most leaders never had a boss who modeled a good one, so they don't know what they're missing. Colby explains what a one-on-one really is, why keeping it on the calendar sends a message about the person and not just the meeting, and how to use leader rounding, a set of questions he learned from healthcare leader Quint Studer and has used in retail, nonprofits, and consulting. Plus: how one recognition question can change a team's culture.

What should I ask in a one-on-one meeting?
The leader rounding questions, in order, and what each one brings to the surface.

How do I start one-on-ones with someone I barely know?
The honest opener Colby recommends when it feels awkward.

In Colby's words
"You want it to be about the employee, not about you." (Colby Morris)

Resources mentioned

• Quint Studer, Hardwiring Excellence

Related episodes

• One-on-One Meetings That Work: Build Trust, Track Goals, and Transform Your Team
• Stop Running Your One-on-Ones
• Leadership is About People

Support the show

• Colby's LinkedIn Profile
• NXTStepAdvisors.com

Leadership is about people: results come through your team, and you only earn the influence to lead them by building trust first. This is the first episode of Things Leaders Do, and it lays out the idea the whole show is built on. KPIs and goals matter, but every result runs through the people you lead. Colby Morris walks the chain from connection to trust to relationship to influence, then gets practical about what to do this month to start connecting, why being visible matters more than you think, and how to develop people instead of just handing off tasks. He also shares what he told a busy leader who said nobody on his team could be trusted with more.

How does a leader earn influence with a team?
The path from connection to trust to influence, and why you can't skip steps.

Why can't I find anyone on my team to delegate to?
Colby's answer to that question is not the one most leaders want to hear, plus the difference between delegating tasks and delegating responsibility.

In Colby's words
"We don't just delegate tasks, we delegate responsibility." (Colby Morris)

Resources mentioned

• John Maxwell
• Quint Studer (leader rounding)
• Patrick Lencioni
• Jocko Willink, Extreme Ownership

Related episodes

• How to Run a One-on-One Meeting (And What It Can Do for Your Team)
• You're Delegating Wrong
• The Rise of People-First Leadership

Support the show

• Colby's LinkedIn Profile
• NXTStepAdvisors.com

An introduction to what Things Leaders Do will be about. Listen for a sampling of what to expect!

Support the show

• Colby's LinkedIn Profile
• NXTStepAdvisors.com