Things Leaders Do: Leadership for Managers and Executives

Why Your One-on-Ones Aren’t Working—And How to Fix Them

Episode 1 of the One-on-One Meeting Series | The Things Leaders Do Podcast with Colby Morris

Most one-on-one meetings aren’t working—and deep down, you probably know it.
They’re rushed. Disorganized. Too focused on tasks. Or worse—nonexistent. And when that’s the case, you’re not leading… you’re reacting.

In this episode, Colby Morris breaks down why one-on-ones fail, why they matter more than you think, and a simple, proven 4-step structure that will help you transform these meetings into your most powerful leadership tool. Whether you manage 3 people or 30, this episode gives you a framework that actually works.

You’ll learn:

• Why bad one-on-ones erode trust, culture, and performance
• How intentional one-on-ones support people-first leadership
• A 4-part agenda that builds connection, alignment, and growth
• Why energy checks (like the “battery level” question) are key
• Real-world coaching questions and leadership prompts that move people forward

This is Episode 1 of our One-on-One Meeting Series—and it sets the foundation for everything that follows.

Leadership Challenge inside: Use this episode to structure your next one-on-one meeting.

Need support or a template? Connect with Colby directly on LinkedIn or by email to get the same one-on-one agenda and prompts he uses with his teams.

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Interested in booking Colby for a keynote, team training, or leadership offsite? Reach out through LinkedIn or by email to learn more.

Connect with Colby Morris
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colby-morris/
Email: [email protected]
Website: NXTStepAdvisors.com

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Managing Up — How to Disagree with Your Boss Without Killing Your Career

Disagreeing with your boss doesn’t have to be career suicide. In fact, it might be your most powerful leadership move—if you do it the right way.

In the final episode of The Conflict Series, Colby Morris tackles one of the toughest challenges for leaders in the middle: how to manage up. Whether you’re a middle manager, a team lead, or a high-performing individual contributor, you’ve likely faced the tension of wanting to speak up without stepping out of line.

This episode gives you the mindset, language, and strategy to disagree with leadership without damaging trust or credibility. Learn how to bring respectful pushback, contribute solutions instead of complaints, and connect feedback to shared goals—all while strengthening your influence from the middle of the org chart.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why most leaders get managing up completely wrong
• How to challenge direction without sounding combative
• A 3-part framework to speak up clearly, calmly, and credibly
• Real-world examples of how to bring feedback up the chain
• A leadership challenge to help you practice the right way this week

Whether you’re looking to build credibility with your boss, influence strategy from the middle, or coach your team on how to lead up well—this is the episode that brings it all together.

If this episode gave you new insight or language to lead from the middle, share it with your team or send it to another leader you respect.
Want to bring this conversation into your organization? Colby is available for speaking engagements, executive trainings, and leadership retreats focused on communication, culture, and courageous leadership.
Connect on LinkedIn or reach out through the link below.

NXT Step Advisors

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Struggling to have tough conversations without damaging relationships? You’re not alone—and this episode shows you how to lead with clarity and care.

In Part 2 of The Conflict Series, Colby Morris breaks down a practical 3-step framework for saying hard things as a leader—without losing trust, morale, or momentum. Drawing from years of leadership experience and a real-life story with a former supervisor, Colby reveals how consistent one-on-ones, clear expectations, and people-first leadership make tough conversations easier and more effective.

Whether you're giving performance feedback, addressing accountability gaps, or confronting team dynamics, this episode gives you the exact words, mindset, and tools you need to lead like a pro—even in the uncomfortable moments.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why avoiding tough conversations erodes trust faster than speaking the truth
• A 3-step framework for direct and compassionate feedback
• How consistent one-on-ones and feedback rhythms make accountability easier
• The biggest mistakes leaders make when delivering hard messages—and how to fix them
• A leadership challenge to help you take immediate action this week

This episode is a must-listen for new managers, seasoned executives, HR leaders, and anyone committed to building a culture of clarity, care, and high performance.

If this episode challenged or helped you, share it with your leadership team.
Colby is available for speaking engagements, team offsites, and leadership trainings focused on building people-first leaders who communicate with courage.
Connect with him on LinkedIn or reach out through the contact link below.

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The Conflict Series: Your Team is Not a Family

Is your workplace really a family—or are you avoiding the tough conversations your team actually needs?

In this episode of Things Leaders Do, Colby Morris kicks off The Conflict Series by taking aim at one of the most popular myths in leadership today: the idea that your team should function like a family. While “we’re like a family here” sounds heartwarming, it often creates confusion, stifles innovation, and sabotages accountability.

Colby shares personal stories, expert quotes, and hard-won lessons from the front lines of leadership to help you build a culture of trust, performance, and growth—without the emotional traps that “family culture” can bring. Whether you're a new leader trying to define your voice or a seasoned executive looking to shift your organization’s culture, this episode gives you the tools to lead with clarity and courage.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why calling your team a “family” can lead to underperformance and missed opportunities
• How avoiding conflict in the name of harmony kills innovation
• Real-world examples of leadership mistakes and what they taught Colby
• The exact language to use instead of “we’re a family” to inspire accountability and unity
• A 3-step leadership challenge to reset expectations and take action this week

This episode is ideal for frontline managers, senior leaders, HR professionals, and leadership coaches who want to create high-trust, high-performance cultures without falling into the emotional traps of outdated leadership clichés.

If this episode hits home, share it with your team and open the conversation.
Interested in bringing this message to your organization? Colby is available for leadership trainings, offsites, and team culture resets. Connect with him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/colbymorris/) or reach out directly using the contact link below:

Nxtstepadvisors.com

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How to Build Backup Systems That Scale — Without Creating Bottlenecks or Burnout

Show Description:

If your business relies on one person to keep a process running, you don’t have a system — you have a single point of failure.

In this follow-up to last week’s episode, Colby shares real stories and practical tools to help you build backup systems that scale without piling on red tape or burning out your team.

You’ll hear:

• A true story from Colby’s hospital leadership days that changed the way he trained teams
• How to test whether your team is truly cross-trained or just good at talk
• Why most SOPs fail — and how to fix them by documenting context, not just tasks
• A powerful “Mission-Critical Map” exercise to find and fix your hidden bottlenecks
• A weekly challenge to help you build a more resilient, scalable team — starting now

This episode is for leaders who want to grow without becoming the bottleneck, lose sleep over operational gaps, or build a company that falls apart if one person goes on vacation.

Need help building resilient teams, systems that scale, or leaders who can handle the weight of growth?

Colby offers executive coaching, keynote speaking, and custom leadership training for organizations that want to grow with clarity, confidence, and consistency.

Contact Colby directly:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colbymorris/
Booking or inquiries: https://www.nxtstepadvisors.com/

Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with another leader.
And you know why?

Because those are the things that leaders do.

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Episode Title:

Eliminating Single Points of Failure | Things Leaders Do Podcast

Episode Description (Show Notes):

What happens if the one thing holding your organization together suddenly falls apart?

In today's episode of Things Leaders Do, Colby Morris breaks down the critical leadership concept of eliminating single points of failure—before they cripple your business.

You will hear a real-world story from Colby’s time leading hospital operations, where an entire system was unknowingly dependent on a single employee. Plus, we explore how many founders unknowingly become their own organization’s biggest risk—and how to fix it.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why inspecting what is working is just as important as fixing what is broken
• How Andy Stanley’s leadership principle applies to scaling resilient teams
• The difference between managers who react and leaders who stress-test systems early
• Why burnout is your biggest hidden threat—and how to build sustainable, resilient teams
• How to involve your team in uncovering operational risks before they explode

Whether you are a CEO, a founder, or a team leader, you will walk away with actionable strategies to protect your organization from invisible risks—and build something that can truly scale.

If you want a resilient business, it starts today—with the right questions, the right systems, and the right leadership moves.

Resources and Links:

• Connect with Colby on LinkedIn: LinkedIn Profile (https://www.linkedin.com/in/colbymorris/)
• Book Colby for keynotes, corporate training, or webinars: www.nxtstepadvisors.com
• Contact Colby directly for speaking engagements or consulting: [email protected]

Support the show

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If AI Can Do Your Job, It’s Time to Lead Differently

Episode Description:

If AI can do your job, what exactly are you bringing to the table?

This week on Things Leaders Do, Colby Morris delivers a direct challenge to every leader navigating the rise of artificial intelligence: 

You can’t automate emotional intelligence. 

You can’t delegate trust. 

And you sure can’t replace real leadership with a chatbot.

In this short, high-impact episode, you’ll learn:

• Why your team is silently wondering if their work still matters—and how to lead through the fear.
• What AI can do exceptionally well—and what it will never be able to do.
• Why emotional intelligence (EQ) is the one skill that separates real leaders from human-shaped task bots.
• How to use AI as a tool—without using it as a crutch.
• Why the future of leadership is more human, not less.

This episode is designed for your drive to work or wind-down after—so you can listen, reflect, and lead differently by the time you show up.

🔗 Want to connect with Colby or book him to speak? Visit nxtstepadvisors.com or connect with Colby on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/colbymorris/)

Subscribe. Share it with another leader. And show up like only you can.
And you know why? Because those are the things that leaders do.

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How to Deliver Employee Reviews That Don’t Suck (And Actually Grow Your People) Part 2

Too many employee reviews feel like an ambush.

But when leaders approach reviews as the culmination of a year’s worth of growth—not a once-a-year evaluation—everything changes.

In this episode of Things Leaders Do, Colby Morris walks you through how to conduct employee reviews that build trust, reinforce clarity, and inspire performance. This is Part 2 of our series on Employee Development and Annual Reviews, and we’re focused on the delivery—how to lead the actual conversation with confidence and care.

You'll learn:

• How to make monthly 1:1s the foundation of your review process
• Why great reviews are never a surprise—and what to do if they are
• When and how to schedule reviews to reduce anxiety and build consistency
• How to reframe the review as a story, not just a score
• A simple, objective framework to evaluate SMART goals using real data

Whether the year was full of wins, setbacks, or something in between, this episode will help you turn your review process into a people-first leadership tool—not a performance trap.

Want more leadership insights or training for your team?
Colby Morris provides keynotes, leadership coaching, and custom workshops to help organizations build strong, people-first cultures.

• NXTStepAdvisors.com

Connect with Colby:

• LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/colbymorris/) and join the ongoing conversation about what real leadership looks like today.

Subscribe, share, and start leading reviews that grow people—not blindside them.

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Employee Reviews That Don’t Suck (And Actually Grow Your People)

Let’s be honest: most employee reviews suck. They’re vague, awkward, once-a-year rituals that everyone dreads—and nobody grows from.

But they don’t have to be.

In this episode of Things Leaders Do, Colby Morris breaks down how to build employee development plans that actually work—with SMART goals that connect to your team’s real career aspirations, and a system to track progress month after month.

You’ll learn: 

 ✅ How to ditch the checkbox review culture
 ✅ How to build SMART goals your team actually cares about
 ✅ How to break annual goals into quarterly and monthly wins
 ✅ How to create a simple, powerful one-page development plan
 ✅ And why most reviews feel like punishment—but don’t have to

If you want to stop phoning it in and start building a culture where reviews lead to real growth, this episode is your roadmap. Plus, Colby shares real-life stories (yes, even the ones where he learned the hard way), so you can skip the mistakes and level up your leadership game faster.

🔔 Subscribe. Share it with the leader who’s still using last year’s copy-paste review template. 

And if you’re looking for keynote speakers, workshops, or coaching that doesn’t suck either—Colby’s your guy.

Connect with Colby on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/colbymorris/)

or at his webpage: nxtstepadvisors.com (no "E" in NXT)

Support the show

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Mentoring and Coaching: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders

Description:

Discover how to empower the next generation of leaders through effective mentoring and coaching in this episode of the TLD podcast! Join leadership expert Colby Morris as he reveals actionable strategies for leadership development. Learn why your true legacy as a leader lies in the leaders you nurture, not just your own successes.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to spot future leaders with high potential for growth
• A practical, step-by-step guide to impactful mentoring conversations
• The importance of real-time, honest feedback in shaping leadership skills
• Top training resources, including must-read books and courses for leaders
• Ways to set clear leadership expectations and provide ongoing support

Perfect for executives, managers, or anyone eager to enhance their leadership approach, this episode delivers practical mentoring tips and coaching strategies to build a team of confident, capable leaders. Packed with inspiring stories and expert advice, it’s your go-to resource for leadership training and development.

Connect with Colby

• LinkedIn: Colby Morris
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/colbymorris/
• Website: nxtstepadvisors.com (N-X-T, no E)

Want Colby to speak or coach? Hit him up on LinkedIn or the website.

Subscribe now to transform your leadership journey and start developing the next generation of leaders today!

Support the show

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