Weekly Wisdom #290 - How to avoid the most common mistake of leaders during a crisis

Leading During Crisis, How People Think, Body Scans, Clear Thinking & Compost

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Happy Monday!

One of the toughest parts about leadership is motivating those around you when things aren't going well.

It's difficult to deliver the message "things are going badly" and inspire at the same time.

Two principles I've found useful:

Extreme ownership: Regardless whose fault it is, the leader needs to take responsibility. Usually, it's something like "we made the wrong choice" or "we didn't prioritize well enough." Taking responsibility earns you respect.

Praise in public, criticize in private: Praising in public makes people feel good and increases that respect. They value your recognition. Respect and public praise then earns you the right to criticize or push in private. It gives you the latitude to manage people as needed.

The opposite of these principles—shirking ownership and criticizing in public—are guaranteed to diminish respect and hurt performance.

But they're also the most common reactions during tough times.

Have a great week!

Graham

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Links

📚 Book Notes: The Psychology of Money - Morgan Housel - I just started Housel's new book, Same As Ever, and it had me revisiting my notes from his first book, which was something fresh in the world of money and investing.

He often writes blog posts on his fund's blog here, which are also always very good.

What I appreciate most about his work is a) he's someone who seeks to find the positive side of everything, and b) most of his work is focused on how people think, and how we apply that to everyday life (in his case, investing).

📖 DEXA Scans: My Results & Three Elements Essential to Longevity - Jack Dixon - I recently got a DEXA scan, and though I have yet to analyze my results in detail, Jack (a fellow Canadian!) does a good job of highlighting why they're important alongside his own results.

🎧 Podcast: Shane Parrish on The Tim Ferriss Show - I just read Shane's new book, Clear Thinking, and this episode touches lots of the main points from the book, as well as some unique insights into things like how Shane invests.

🔧 Mill compost bin - This is a very, very cool product: a kitchen/home compost bin that chops things up and dries them out, preventing odour and giving you a perfect recycled material without any effort.

I love products like this, purpose-built to solve a unique problem. The downside? Looks like it's a subscription model (and not a cheap one).

Tweet of the Week

Greg Isenberg is an entrepreneur I've followed for a long time (he's also from Montreal, and I heard him speak ages ago). This list of his most-used frameworks from the last year has got something for everyone: everything from how to avoid burnout to how to get your first 1000 customers.

GREG ISENBERG-->

@gregisenberg

The 14 frameworks i used the most in 2023.

Sharing them in case it's helpful to any entrepreneur, multipreneur, or creator out there in 2024...

1. The Personal Board of Directors:

- Pick a diverse crew from all life areas: work, friends, spiritual, artists etc.
- Loop them… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1727383782980833364

12:49 PM • Nov 22, 2023

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