The Profit Leak Blog

I speak to CEOs daily about their challenges, opportunities, their people and obstacles in their way. Clearly every one of them have their own sets of issues, insecurities, aspirations and intentions. Some of them lean in with curiosity to learn more from others, while some of them think they know it all. Growth mindset versus fixed mindset. One clearly defined feature though that is often lacking, is their willingness to be truly courageous . I'm not talking about the simple courage that plays to your strengths. Yes of course, that's great but that's easy to do. It's easy to do the things you've always done and leaned into what you know best. But are you truly a courageous leader? I'm talking about the hard stuff. The stuff that really tests you. The stuff that invites vulnerability and realness to you as a human. I learned this years ago and didn't realize it at the time. but the CEO is in fact quite an intimidating creature for many. Just the title invokes fear and uncertainty. Quick to judge people, employees are scared at the thought of interacting with the CEOs of their company. Why is that? Hollywood movies? Bad bosses? In my mind, too many CEOs aren't being real or showing up in a real way. Being vulnerable, sharing weaknesses, talking about mistakes, inviting feedback. It's as if the CEO title means you aren't allowed to screw up or get help? I think that's called a robot - albeit they make mistakes sometimes too. The more people invite feedback, and are open with the facts, the more they are relatable and frankly inspiring. If you aspire to lead courageously, ask yourself these key questions: 1) Do you regularly ask others for help? The bravest leaders understand that seeking help is not a sign of weakness, but of courage. They know surrounding themselves with feedback makes the entire team stronger. Asking for help shows humility, respect for others’ perspectives, and commitment to learning and progress. If you avoid seeking input due to ego or pride, you have more to learn about courageous leadership. 2) Do you view failures and mistakes as opportunities to improve? Fear of failure leads to stagnation, but the most effective leaders see setbacks as opportunities to get better. They create safe environments where people feel comfortable raising issues early so improvements can be made. Courageous leaders don't punish experimentation or trivialize others’ errors. They celebrate failures as part of the iterative process of achieving high performance. 3) Are you as transparent in failure as in success? In all times, especially difficult times, opacity breeds distrust. But courageous leaders communicate openly and truthfully. They welcome tough questions and acknowledge when they don’t have all the answers. They share bad news along with good, knowing transparency builds loyalty and engagement. Courageous leaders do not hide problems; they confront them directly with candor and care. If you can answer yes to all these questions about seeking help, learning from failure and being transparent, you are one of the 0.0001%. Congratulations! We need more leaders like you!!! But if any no’s surfaced, it's not too late to learn, adapt and level up your courage. After all, you have nothing to lose literally and everything to gain. I'd welcome your thoughts and happy to experience share too!

As a founder/CEO several times over, I know all about setting strategy, striving for ambitious goals and empowering teams to help get there. But sometimes, no matter what you try, things are just not working. You then engage your peers or a coach, or perhaps read some books and identify ways to make change. Whether it's implementing a new methodology across your company like EOS/Scaling Up, or redoing the OKRs you've once set up, or changing leadership, there is always something you could level up and improve. You then decide, well when things improve, I'll spend the money to make that change in the future. The irony is, you actually can't afford to delay. And I've learned that the hard way in my first business, which is why it took me 11 years to get to breakout success and record profits. Anyway, I digress... In my career, delaying clear steps towards leveling up our company and teams, always caused more havoc. As a wise coach once told me when I reflected on my mistakes, "Eddie, the best time you could have done that was then, the second best time is now!" That has stuck with me, and I just want other leaders to learn from my mistakes. From my experience, the most successful companies constantly focus on getting better, even when business seems to be going well. They recognize that standing still means falling behind. By taking steps now to implement improved systems for goal setting, accountability, and culture alignment, you position your company for greater achievements when it matters most. Some leaders fall into the trap of believing they need to wait for an opportune time to make major changes. They plan to act when business slows down, or they hit a rough patch that spurs them to action. But by waiting until problems arise, you lose the benefits of compounding positive returns over time. The best time to act is well NOW. Regardless of whether the business is strong or not. Additionally, big changes simply take time to cascade through an organization. If you wait to implement new performance initiatives until you desperately need results, you may not achieve the full benefits before it's too late. However, efforts put in motion now have time to take hold and make a meaningful difference. While cost is always a valid concern, the price of doing nothing over the long-term is far greater. Stalled growth resulting from maintaining status quo will hurt your competitiveness exponentially more than investment made today to enable growth. As a leader, it's your responsibility to make farsighted decisions that set your company up for success both today and tomorrow. Be the catalyst that drives positive change now, and you will reap the rewards many times over. Delay only puts you further behind. The time to act is now. It will be worth every penny.

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