August 2026

Good leaders choose honesty over convenience Case in point: I was not the smartest person in the room. There were 4 of us – a Mathematician/General Manager, a Manager of Technology, and the Head of Talent Acquisition. We were brainstorming a solution to an urgent problem involving a contractor who was supposed to start a new role with our client that morning. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the client decided to go with another candidate and informed us at the last minute. The goal was to mitigate the fallout and protect the reputations of everyone involved. Cue the desperate ideas, none of which were based on the truth. To them, it was more believable to cook up a story to tell the contractor. Here I was in a room with brilliance and none of the ideas seemed to stick. I listened to them go back and forth until I finally decided to speak up. My suggestion: “Why don’t we tell her the truth?” (i.e., the client wanted someone else). The idea was so simple that it caught them off guard. We ended up telling the contractor what happened, and she understood. There was no harm, no damage, and everyone—including the client—looked good. Lesson: The most elegant solutions are usually the simplest ones. That quiet, unassuming person in your meetings might be the one holding the solution that could save your reputation and time.

Good leaders know how to shift from logic to empathy. Case in point: after my daughter’s situation had been resolved, I decided to ask my wife for the details. Instead of sharing what I wanted to hear, she told me that I was essentially too logical for moments like that. She’s correct, and my decision to leave the room made more sense. This was not a logical moment; nothing about my daughter’s sudden mood change was logical, and Daddy’s method of problem-solving might’ve closed our daughter off to help entirely. The moment required compassion and a listening ear, and who better than my wife to help her sort through those feelings. Lesson: Adapt your approach to fit the emotional needs of the moment. An approach that worked for one situation, may not be the right method for a present-day matter.  Final Takeaway from Part 1 & 2: Stepping back allows others to exercise their strengths, and accepting your own limitations allows the right emotional response to be applied in the moment.

Good leaders clearly communicate the goal for every meeting and know when to exit the room to allow for unfiltered brainstorming that leads to tangible, lasting solutions. When they step back into the room, it’s to listen, mediate, and offer constructive guidance without imposing. Case in point: my 7-year-old daughter had a moment this week that climaxed into tears. Despite our efforts, we couldn’t get her to verbally express this sudden change in mood. I watched as my wife probed with questions to no avail (her frustration level was also rising). Then it dawned on me: leave the room. Turns out that my presence was hindering the flow of honest communication between my daughter and her mother. This was not my territory, and my wife was able to get to the core of the issue, and ultimately help our daughter. Lesson: Knowing when to exit is key to your success as a leader. You don’t need to be present for everything, and my departure created a runway for my wife to fully assert herself.