If you want real performance, don’t aim for blind trust or total control. Build a culture where trust is earned, visibility is normal, and results speak for themselves.

Executors also understand energy. Momentum is a flywheel. Small ships create confidence. Confidence creates speed. Speed creates data. Data sharpens decisions. That is how you compound. Not with a “big reveal”, but with 50 small reveals that move you forward.

When you strip a business back to its essentials, something strange happens. You get space.

Not empty space. Productive space.

Space to think. Space to create. Space to actually lead.

I once got in an argument with a teacher about their teaching style. They said, “I’ve got 20 years teaching experiencing!” I said, “Repeating the same thing every year for 20 years isn’t 20 years experience, it’s one year of experience, which has become very outdated.” I was probably the most annoying little shit ever to teach, but I think I had a point.

The best relationships in business don’t start in strategy documents. They start in curiosity. Curiosity grounded in actually giving a shit about the person’s world.

Everyone’s trying to automate themselves. AI tools, content schedulers, engagement hacks. The obsession is speed and scale — how to be everywhere without actually showing up.

Everything’s a “strategy” now.
A new deck? Strategy.
A brainstorm? Strategy.
A vague ambition with no numbers, no timeline, and no accountability? Definitely a strategy.

Everyone talks about growth. Bigger teams, bigger revenue, bigger ambitions. But most people don’t actually want growth. What they want is complexity that makes them feel like they’re growing.

Chasing numbers? Followers, impressions, subscribers, engagement rates. The whole thing’s become a game of who can look busiest, not who’s actually having an impact.