ARTICLES

Your supervisors avoiding hard conversations is not a minor leadership flaw; it’s the most common management mistake and the one that quietly does the most damage. The mistake usually isn’t saying the wrong thing—it’s doing nothing and hoping the problem will sort itself out. The most common mistake: doing nothing One of the best bosses ever told me, “The most common management mistake is doing nothing,” and, if being honest, that has probably been my biggest mistake too. Whe

The future of leadership in government isn’t about choosing between efficiency and culture—it’s about building systems that deliver both, relentlessly moving us forward while keeping our team strong and connected. Jim Collins nails this in Good to Great, where Level 5 leaders confront brutal facts—like our reactive firefighting—while maintaining unwavering faith in the endgame: sustainable progress through disciplined systems, not just hustle. Cities I’ve worked with often ex

Months ago, I wrote about the Emperor Moth and The Coddling of the American Mind , exploring how overprotection—whether in parenting or elsewhere—robs people of the essential struggle that builds resilience and strength. Today, that same dynamic plays out in leadership. We’ve all heard of “snowplow parenting,” where well-meaning parents clear every obstacle from their kids’ paths. In the workplace, we do the exact same thing: snowplow leadership. We rush in to solve problems,

Every promotion creates a Competence Chasm between your proven skills and the new leadership demands ahead. Humility is the only reliable bridge across it, turning potential failure into lifelong growth. What Is the Competence Chasm? The Competence Chasm is the deep, treacherous gap that opens with every promotion—the divide between the technical strengths and task mastery that earned you the role, and the new demands like mentoring, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence