Leadership

This may be an unpopular opinion but.... the most important characteristics I look for in a leader are vulnerability, empathy, and intuition. Everything else is secondary. Why? ➡️ Hire a leader with empathy because if they can create a culture where your employees are not terrified to fail or make a mistake, that will allow them to be more innovative. At Spanx we had 'oops' meetings where we would go around and talk about a mistake we made that week. Employees (and leadership!) had to stand up and share their biggest screw-ups. It made it to where the fear of embarrassment didn't kill performance. ➡️ Hire a leader who's vulnerable and doesn't feel the need to put on a facade to be taken seriously. When I started Spanx, instead of talking at my customer, I wanted to talk to them. I made myself vulnerable, and I tried to apply that same logic to working with my employees. Vulnerability helps you connect with everyone. Your customers, your employees, even your critics! ➡️ Hire a leader who's in touch with their intuition. Do they know how to listen to their gut? Do they know when to throw out the data and the 'expert opinions'? The Spanx team and I did this in 2019 when picking the famous leather legging as our hero product of the year.... we had no proof that it would create a cult-following but we had a gut feeling and we trusted it. What are your top 3 things you look for in a leader? ⬇️

🥊 “Jingjin, have you ever considered that women are just inferior to men?” That was her opening line. The lady who challenged me was not a traditionalist in pearls. She was one of the top investment bankers of her time, closed billion-dollar deals, led global teams, the kind of woman whose voice dropped ten degrees when money was on the line. And she meant it. “Back in my day, if I had to hire, I’d always go for the man. No pregnancy leave. No PMS. No emotional volatility. Just less… liability.” And she doesn’t believe in what I do. Helping women lead from a place of wholeness. Because to her, wholeness is a luxury. Winning requires neutrality. And neutrality means: be less female and suck it up! I’ve heard versions of this many times, and too often, from high-performing women who "made it" by suppressing. But facts are: 🧠 There are no consistent brain differences between men and women that explain men’s “logic” or women’s “emotions.” 💥 Hormones impact everyone. Men’s testosterone drops when they nurture. Women’s cortisol rises in toxic workplaces, not because they’re weak, but because they’re sane. 📉 What we call “meritocracy” is often a reward system for those who can perform like they have no body, no children, no cycles. None of those are biologically male traits. They’re artifacts of a system built around male lives. So, if you're a woman who's bought into this logic, here are some counter-strategies: 🛠 1. Study Systems Like You Studied Deals Dissect the incentives, norms, and bias loops of your workplace the same way you’d break down a P&L. Don’t internalize what’s structural. 🧭 2. Redefine Strategic Strengths Stop mirroring alpha aggression to prove you belong. Deep listening, self-regulation, and nuance reading, these are leadership assets, not soft skills. Use them ruthlessly. 💬 3. Name It, Don’t Numb It If your hormones impact you one day a month, say so, but also say what it doesn’t mean: It doesn’t cancel out 29 days of clarity, strategy, and execution. 🪩 4. Build Your Own Meritocracy Start investing in spaces, networks, and cultures where your wholeness isn’t penalized. If none exist, build them. 🧱 5. Deconstruct Before You Self-Doubt When you catch yourself thinking “maybe I’m not built for this,” pause. Ask: Whose rules am I trying to win by? Who benefits when I question myself? This post isn’t about defending women. We don’t need defending. It’s about calling out the internalised metrics we still use to measure ourselves. 👊 And choosing to rewrite them. What’s the most 'rational' reason you’ve heard for why women are a liability?

Scaling from 50 to 100 employees almost killed our company. Until we discovered a simple org structure that unlocked $100M+ in annual revenue. In my 10+ years of experience as a founder, one of the biggest challenges I faced in scaling was bridging the organizational gap between startup and enterprise. We hit that wall at around 100~ employees. What worked beautifully with a small team suddenly became our biggest obstacle to growth. The problem was our functional org structure: Engineers reporting to engineering, product to product, business to business. This created a complex dependency web: • Planning took weeks • No clear ownership  • Business threw Jira tickets over the fence and prayed for them to get completed • Engineers didn’t understand priorities and worked on problems that didn’t align with customer needs That was when I studied Amazon's Single-Threaded Owner (STO) model, in which dedicated GMs run independent business units with their own cross-functional teams and manage P&L It looked great for Amazon's scale but felt impossible for growing companies like ours. These 2 critical barriers made it impractical for our scale: 1. Engineering Squad Requirements: True STO demands complete engineering teams (including managers) reporting to a single owner. At our size, we couldn't justify full engineering squads for each business unit. To make it work, we would have to quadruple our engineering headcount. 2. P&L Owner Complexity: STO leaders need unicorn-level skills: deep business acumen and P&L management experience. Not only are these leaders rare and expensive, but requiring all these skills in one person would have limited our talent pool and slowed our ability to launch new initiatives. What we needed was a model that captured STO's focus and accountability but worked for our size and growth needs. That's when we created Mission-Aligned Teams (MATs), a hybrid model that changed our execution (for good) Key principles: • Each team owns a specific mission (e.g., improving customer service, optimizing payment flow) • Teams are cross-functional and self-sufficient,  • Leaders can be anyone (engineer, PM, marketer) who's good at execution • People still report functionally for career development • Leaders focus on execution, not people management The results exceeded our highest expectations: New MAT leads launched new products, each generating $5-10M in revenue within a year with under 10 person teams. Planning became streamlined. Ownership became clear. But it's NOT for everyone (like STO wasn’t for us) If you're under 50 people, the overhead probably isn't worth it. If you're Amazon-scale, pure STO might be better. MAT works best in the messy middle: when you're too big for everyone to be in one room but too small for a full enterprise structure. image courtesy of Manu Cornet ------ If you liked this, follow me Henry Shi as I share insights from my journey of building and scaling a  $1B/year business.

If you are a leader or practitioner of #diversity, #equity, or #inclusion, do you facilitate activities, or do you create impact? They're not the same thing. In conversation after conversation I've had with DEI teams in the last few months, a common theme is anxiety in the face of change. The language they've spent years using is being forced to change. The activities they've made into their bread and butter are being suspended or forced to adapt. Newer or less mature DEI teams tend to see their activities and their impact as one and the same. They reason that, if they provide event programming and support employee networks, their impact on the organization must be "event programming existing" and "employee networks feeling supported." In the face of change, they grieve not only the loss of the status quo, but the perceived loss of all impact they could make. More established or mature DEI teams see their activities as a means to achieve their desired impact. They're able to identify problems in the organization that need solving and develop activities that best utilize their resources to solve these problems. They reason that, because the organization fails to adequately create belonging for all of its employees due to inconsistent manager support and a company culture that doesn't value people, they can solve the problem by increasing managerial consistency and creating a more people-centric culture. In the face of change, they grieve the loss of their activities—but can quickly pivot to new ones that achieve the same goals. We can learn a lot from these teams. If you want to sustain your impact even through disruptions to your team's typical operations, you can start by doing the following: 🎯 Define the problem you're working to solve, in context. Data, both qualitative and quantitative, ensures that you can identify the biggest gaps in your organization's commitment to its values, understand what areas DON'T need fixing so you can conserve your effort, and can start strategizing about how to solve root causes. 🎯 Pull out the biggest contributors to unfairness and exclusion. It's one thing if a manager in Sales communicates disrespectfully. It's another thing altogether if the culture of the entire Sales team glorifies disrespect. Understanding the scale of the issues we face can help us prioritize solving the biggest issues affecting everyone, rather than chasing symptoms. 🎯 Design interventions, not activities. Too many practitioners create an initiative because that's what they've been asked to do. Think of them instead as interventions: carefully-designed attempts to shift the status quo from Point A to a more inclusive, more fair Point B, by solving real problems that hold your organization back. The more we shift our work toward real impact, the more effective we'll be—regardless of the sociopolitical climate, regardless of backlash. Let's hone our focus.

GHG Mitigation Hierarchy 🌎 The GHG Mitigation Hierarchy provides a structured framework for addressing greenhouse gas emissions. It prioritizes actions based on their impact, from eliminating emissions at the source to compensating for unavoidable emissions. This approach offers clarity for organizations and industries striving to meet sustainability goals. The first level, Eliminate, focuses on innovating processes and products that inherently avoid greenhouse gas emissions. This proactive approach is the most effective way to tackle climate change by preventing emissions before they occur. Reduce emphasizes improving operational efficiency to lower the amount of emissions produced by existing systems. By optimizing processes, businesses can achieve significant reductions in their carbon footprint. Substitute encourages the replacement of high-carbon options with lower-carbon alternatives. This transition is crucial in reducing overall emissions, particularly in industries that rely on carbon-intensive materials and processes. Compensate involves investing in environmental projects to offset the impact of remaining emissions. While not a substitute for direct action, compensation plays a vital role in balancing out emissions that cannot be eliminated or reduced. The hierarchy offers a clear, actionable pathway for addressing greenhouse gas emissions. By following this structure, industries can make measurable progress toward sustainability targets and contribute to global climate efforts. #sustainability #sustainable #business #esg #climatechange #climateaction #sdgs #strategy

My dream is that a 'try-before-you-buy' approach to leadership hiring will become the norm in the not-so-distant future (via interim roles). After all, how can you possibly know if someone is a good fit for the role after just a few short interview hours? It's nonsensical. We all know that both the company and the candidate are on their best behavior during the interview period—trying to sell, sell, sell. So the whole process is optimized for acquisition, not retention. And let's be real, impactful leadership hires are those who retain: stay with the company for a minimum of 3-5 years, because that's how long it takes to make an impact. A bad leadership hires are all around us. They bounce/let go within 1-2 years, often leaving long-lasting damage felt by everyone for years. And it's not that people are bad (but sometimes they are); it's that they are often in the wrong positions. I've been that bad leadership hire myself. It sucks for everyone involved. Enter the hero of this story: 'try-before-you-buy' approach via interim leadership. What is an interim leadership? I’ve held interim head of marketing or growth roles at Miro, Netlify, Amplitude, and Dropbox, and my take is that Interim is defined as a full-time leadership role on a short-term, contractual basis (not to be confused with Fractional, which is a part-time, long-term contract) In fact, I converted to full-time role at Dropbox after being an Interim first. It's glorious - I knew exactly what I was signing up for. Yet most companies are hesitant... chasing that illusive full-time hire. But there is a HUGE benefit for companies too: 1. Access to immediate expertise - Need someone by next Monday? No problem. 2. Hiring the right leader at the right time - Especially for companies going through major transformations. 3. Disrupting the status quo - Interim leaders aren't looking for promotions or bigger scope. They come without the bullshit and politics, ready to shake things up. 4. Helping to hire the right long-term person - The most beautiful part: they can hire their own successor! And who could possibly be a better hiring manager than the person currently holding the role? Nobody. I break down each reason, plus drawbacks, on my blog: https://lnkd.in/esDnbEj2 Cheers to a better leadership hiring: rooted in retention, not just acquisition! #hiring #recruiting #leadership

30m PowerPoint presentations are generated daily. Why is this significant? Your average professional dedicates up to 2 workdays weekly to crafting or attending presentations. This is a costly issue: Slides can hinder efficiency, encourage shallow thinking, and potentially lead to a disengaged team. "Many years back, we banned PowerPoint presentations at Amazon. It's probably the wisest decision we ever made." – Jeff Bezos Here are 8 alternatives to 'Death by Powerpoint': 1 - Compose a Memo At Amazon, meetings begin with participants quietly reading a six-page, narratively-structured document.  The outcome: sharper thinking, improved decisions. 2 - Present a Video In today's world, videos are simple to create using smartphones and AI tools.  The outcome: enhanced creativity, greater engagement. 3 - Implement Ignite Talks Five minutes, 20 slides, automatically advancing every 15 seconds.  The outcome: More succinct and powerful presentations. 4 - Craft a Narrative Using appropriate frameworks, we can develop a story much quicker than building a deck.  The outcome: People are 20 times more likely to retain facts woven into a narrative. 5 - Conduct an Interactive Workshop Engage the audience and allow them to devise solutions in smaller groups.  The outcome: Rather than being passive listeners, they become highly involved and take ownership. 6 - Offer a Live Demonstration Showcase your product or concept. Allow others to experience it.  The outcome: The multi-sensory experience reinforces your message. 7 - Organize a Role-Play How might customers, investors or employees respond? Discover through a role-playing exercise.  The outcome: More enjoyable, fresh insights, less preparation time. 8 - Deliver a TED-style Talk Present your idea in a TED Talk format, emphasizing storytelling and audience connection. The outcome: You convey a compelling message in a memorable manner. ♻️ Please share with your network. 📌 And follow Oliver Aust for more practical tips on leadership communication.

Hire people BETTER THAN YOU and DIFFERENT TO YOU… Then LEARN FROM THEM. 🙏🏾 Sounds straightforward, doesn't it? Yet, why do so many leaders still struggle to grasp it? It’s because there's often hidden complexity beneath the surface. For example: 👀 Insecurity: Some leaders want to maintain the perception of being the smartest or most capable in the room. Therefore, surrounding themselves with highly skilled individuals could make them feel inadequate or threatened. 🔐 Need for Control: Hiring “less competent” team members could ensure that the leader remains the central figure, exerting control over important matters. 😱 Fear of Challenge: A diverse team can bring different viewpoints that might challenge the leader's ideas and decisions. 🧘🏾♂️ Comfort Zone: Some leaders prefer familiarity and ease, preventing them from being pushed out of their boundaries. ❤️ Misguided Loyalty: Leaders might adopt favouritism and hire people based on personal relationships or loyalties. 🤔 Short-Term Thinking: Hiring less skilled individuals could be a short-sighted approach to save costs or meet immediate needs, ignoring the long-term benefits of a talented and diverse team. 🤷🏾♂️ Lack of Awareness: Some leaders might just not fully recognise the value of diversity or the importance of surrounding themselves with skilled individuals. Leaders like the above ☝🏽are missing out on: 🧠 Amplified Intelligence: “Fuse Minds" Surrounding yourself with smarter people boosts team intelligence. Just like a puzzle, different pieces fit together to create a whole that's stronger than its parts. 🚀 Fast-Track Growth: “Learn from Experts" Learning from the best accelerates personal growth. Imagine being on a rocket powered by knowledge and experience – you'll reach your goals faster. 🤔 Constant Innovation: “Open Doors" Humility opens doors to innovation. Acknowledging that you don't know everything encourages openness to fresh ideas and creative solutions. 🏋️♂️ Informed Choices: “Embrace Thought Variety" Embracing diversity of thought leads to well-rounded decisions. Different perspectives catch what others might miss, reducing blind spots. 🤝 Unified Power: “Flourish in Collaboration” Collaboration flourishes when skills vary. Strength lies in unity, and a mix of talents creates a powerhouse of cooperation. 🌱 Trust Building: “Strengthen Culture" Inclusive leadership fosters loyalty and trust. Encouraging growth shows you value your team members, creating a supportive environment. 🚀 Ensured Continuity: “Smooth Transition" Passing the baton ensures continuity. When your team can carry the torch, you're free to explore new horizons without being tied down. In short, the aim of any great leader is to make your daily responsibilities redundant. This is best achieved by hiring people better than you, and those that share a different perspective. Empower them, learn from them and the rest will take care of itself 🦋

One of the most valuable lessons I learned at Amazon was a simple question. “Is this a one-way or a two-way door?” Leaders at Amazon obsess about this. In 2016, Jeff Bezos outlined his vision for how to scale Amazon as an “Invention Machine”. The first section was on how to avoid slow decision-making. For many businesses, the need for high-velocity decision-making has never been greater. We know most decisions should be made with around 70% of the information we wish we had… but we often delay until we have 90-100%. This slows innovation. To avoid this, Bezos outlined how all decisions should be split into type 1 (consequential and irreversible) or type 2 (changeable and reversible). This approach is known inside Amazon as ‘one-way or two-way doors’. Bezos’ view was that… “As organizations get larger, there is a tendency to use the heavy-weight Type 1 decision-making process on most decisions, including many Type 2 decisions. The end result of this is slowness, unthoughtful risk aversion, failure to experiment sufficiently, and consequently diminished invention.” This simple approach has stayed with me since I left Amazon, and I highly recommend it if you want to speed up decision-making in your business.

Let me be blunt: I am deeply concerned about the shape of the European Union and its standing in the world. And I fear that our political leadership has not yet accepted how urgently we need to rebuild Europe’s business case. It is a shocking reality that overall the EU has been losing 30% of its market share for the last 20 years. I have very strong confidence in Europe’s ability to take the necessary steps to restore its competitiveness. But I am very concerned that our political leaders try to achieve change by prescriptive regulation. This will not work, because the challenges we are facing are too big to be resolved by just ‘throwing money’ and legislation at the problem. The key will be to achieve the necessary shift in mindset towards a pragmatic way of policymaking. That means: leverage our core strengths and set the smart incentives for innovation and investment. We need to make the Europe Union a success story again! It is time for a New EU Industrial Deal!    After summer – with the next European leadership in place and ready for business – we will have to get to work. We will have to rebuild our business case and complete the Single Market. We may not manage to do that on short term, but we will have to be well awake, and we will be working against the clock. Todays launched European Round Table for Industry - ERT’s Competitiveness and Industry Benchmarking Report 2024 presents 38 KPIs reflecting the harsh reality of the size of the challenge the EU’s competitiveness is facing. Its policy recommendations focus on “Rebuilding Europe’s Business Case” and set out how Europe should re-build the business case. I highly recommend to current and future policymakers in Europe to take bold steps to strengthen Europe`s industrial base again. #EUindustrialdeal #EUgreendeal #competitiveness #EuropeanUnion