10 Big Ideas That Will Make You a Better Leader

Hi there,

What’s the Story?

This week’s big idea series focuses on leadership. What actually makes someone a great leader? I explore 10 books to answer that question with frameworks that work in the real world. From Brené Brown to Simon Sinek to Ryan Holiday, these are some of the best thinkers on leadership. If you lead people or want to, this one’s for you.

Check out this week’s podcast episode for a deep dive into all 10 books.

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How to Become a Leader People Actually Want to Follow

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes 26 seconds

Leadership is hard.

You’re responsible for results but dependent on other people to achieve them. You need to be strong but vulnerable. Direct but caring. Confident but humble.

Most leadership advice is either too soft or too hard. Be authentic and vulnerable! No wait, take extreme ownership and never make excuses.

Good leadership requires all of it. You need multiple frameworks because different situations call for different approaches.

Today, I’m walking you through 10 big ideas that will make you a significantly better leader. Some focus on how you show up. Some focus on how you build teams. Some focus on the virtues you need to cultivate.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a complete toolkit for effective leadership.

Let’s start with the idea that makes most leaders uncomfortable.

1. Dare to Lead by Brené Brown

Vulnerability is not weakness. It’s the greatest measure of courage.

Brené Brown built her career studying vulnerability, shame, and courage. Dare to Lead applies her research specifically to leadership.

You cannot innovate or lead if you’re armored up to protect yourself from shame, failure, or mistakes. Most leaders think they need to appear perfect. To have all the answers. To never show weakness or uncertainty.

This creates terrible leadership. It prevents honest conversations. It stops innovation because nobody wants to suggest ideas that might fail. It destroys trust because people can tell you’re performing instead of being real.

Brown argues that great leaders bring their whole selves to work. They let people see that they don’t have everything figured out. They’re willing to say “I don’t know” or “I made a mistake.”

This means being human.

When you show up authentically, people trust you more. They’re more willing to take risks. They’re more creative. They’re more committed.

The more you can bring your whole self to the table, the more likely you are to win people over and make a lasting impact. Stop playing politics. Stop trying to position yourself perfectly. Start being real.

2. Start with Why by Simon Sinek

People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.

Simon Sinek’s TED talk on this concept went viral for a reason. It changed how people think about leadership and influence. His framework is simple. Most leaders communicate in this order: What → How → Why.

“This is what we’re doing. This is how we’re doing it. Here’s why we’re doing it.”

Great leaders reverse this: Why → How → What.

“This is why we’re doing this. Here’s how we’ll accomplish it. And this is what it will look like.”

Starting with why inspires action. It connects people to purpose before process.

Think about implementing change in your organization. If you start with what’s changing, people resist. They focus on what they’re losing or what will be different. If you start with why it matters, why it’s important, why it will make things better, then explain how you’ll do it and what it looks like, people get on board.

Purpose comes first. Process comes second. Product comes last.

This applies to everything. Selling. Marketing. Leading teams. Building culture.

Always start with why.

3. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

The root cause of team failure is absence of trust. Patrick Lencioni is one of the top experts on building great teams. His framework shows how team dysfunction cascades.

It starts with the absence of trust. When people don’t feel safe being vulnerable with each other, everything else breaks down.

Without trust, you get fear of conflict. People pretend to agree. They create artificial harmony. Nobody says what they really think. Without healthy conflict, you get lack of commitment. People nod in meetings but don’t actually buy in. They’re not fully committed because they never got to voice their real concerns.

Without commitment, you get avoidance of accountability. If people aren’t truly committed, they won’t hold each other accountable. Everyone lets standards slip. Without accountability, you get inattention to results. People focus on their own goals instead of team goals. The mission suffers.

It all starts with trust. Specifically, vulnerability-based trust.

This connects directly to Brené Brown’s work. When leaders model vulnerability, they create safety for others to be vulnerable. That builds trust. Everything else follows.

If your team is dysfunctional, start with trust. Everything else is downstream.

4. Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

There are no bad teams. Only bad leaders.

Jocko Willink is a former Navy SEAL who brings military leadership principles to business. His core concept: extreme ownership.

When things go wrong, the leader looks in the mirror and says “This is my fault.”

Not because it’s actually your fault. But because blaming yourself is productive while blaming others isn’t.

Blaming other people protects your ego but destroys your ability to solve problems. When you blame your team, you give away your power. You’re saying “I can’t control this.”

When you take full accountability, you maintain agency. You’re saying “I have control. I can fix this. What do I need to do differently?”

This is about being strategic.

If your team isn’t getting results, the question isn’t “Why is my team so bad?” The question is:

“What am I doing as a leader that’s preventing them from succeeding?”

That reframe changes everything. It puts the solution in your hands.

Extreme ownership means you take responsibility for outcomes, good and bad. And that responsibility gives you the power to change them.

5. Radical Candor by Kim Scott

To lead well, you need to care personally and challenge directly.

Kim Scott spent years at Google studying what makes great leadership. Her framework is brilliant in its simplicity.

Most leaders fail at feedback because they fall into one of two traps:

Ruinous Empathy: You care about people’s feelings so much that you’re not honest. You’re too nice. You don’t tell them what they need to hear because you don’t want to hurt them.

Obnoxious Aggression: You’re brutally honest but don’t care about how it lands. You’re direct but cruel. You challenge without caring.

Neither works.

Radical candor is the balance: Care personally AND challenge directly.

You genuinely care about the person. You want them to succeed. But you’re willing to have hard conversations because you care.

Scott argues that feedback is a moral obligation. If you see someone doing something wrong and don’t tell them, you’re not being nice. You’re being selfish. You’re prioritizing your own comfort over their growth.

The key is doing both simultaneously. Care deeply about the person. Be direct about the behavior that needs to change.

When you master this balance, you become dramatically more effective as a leader.

6. Good to Great by Jim Collins

Greatness is a disciplined choice, not a personality trait.

Jim Collins studied companies that went from good to great and sustained that greatness. His findings challenge conventional wisdom about leadership.

Great leaders aren’t charismatic celebrities. They’re what Collins calls level 5 leaders.

Level 5 leaders are a paradoxical mix of personal humility and strong professional will.

They’re humble about themselves but fierce about results. When things go wrong, they look in the mirror. When things go right, they look out the window and credit their team.

This connects to extreme ownership. Great leaders take responsibility for failures and give credit for successes.

Collins also introduces the hedgehog concept. Foxes tend to scatter their attention. Whereas hedgehogs have one thing they can do really well. They can curl up in a shell to protect themselves.

Great companies focus on three things:

What you’re passionate about
What you can be best in the world at
What drives your economic engine

Where those three overlap, that’s your hedgehog concept. That’s what you focus on relentlessly.

The Stockdale paradox is another key idea. Admiral Jim Stockdale survived 7.5 years as a prisoner of war by maintaining two contradictory beliefs simultaneously: absolute faith that he would prevail, and brutal honesty about his current reality.

Great leaders do the same. They’re unflinchingly honest about challenges while maintaining unwavering faith in ultimate success.

7. Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday

Fear is not something to avoid. It’s a compass pointing toward what you must do. Ryan Holiday has written extensively on stoicism and the four cardinal virtues. Courage is Calling focuses on the first virtue.

His insight: Courage is moving forward despite fear.

In fact, fear is often a signal. When something scares you, that might be exactly what you need to do.

If you’re terrified to have a difficult conversation, that conversation is probably important. If you’re scared to launch that project, that project probably matters. If you’re afraid to take on that challenge, that challenge probably holds your growth.

This reframes fear from something to avoid to something to pursue.

When you feel fear as a leader, ask yourself: Is this fear protecting me from real danger? Or is it pointing me toward the challenge I need to face?

Usually it’s the latter.

Great leaders feel fear constantly. They just don’t let it stop them.

8. Discipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday

Self-discipline is self-respect expressed over time.

Holiday’s second virtue is discipline, and he reframes it beautifully.

Most people see discipline as deprivation. As forcing yourself to do things you don’t want to do. As punishment for not being naturally motivated.

Holiday argues discipline is actually self-respect.

When you’re disciplined enough to go for a run, you’re respecting your body. When you’re disciplined enough to focus on important work, you’re respecting your time. When you’re disciplined enough to keep commitments, you’re respecting your word.

Discipline expressed over time predicts freedom.

The things you do consistently today create the results you want tomorrow. Short-term discipline creates long-term freedom.

This is especially important for leaders. Your team watches what you do, not what you say. Your discipline sets the standard.

If you’re disciplined about feedback, meetings, and follow-through, your team will be too. If you’re sloppy, they’ll be sloppy.

Discipline is self-respect. And it’s contagious.

9. Right Thing Right Now by Ryan Holiday

Justice is virtue turned outward. Do what’s fair now, not when it’s convenient. Holiday’s third virtue addresses something many leaders struggle with: speaking up when it’s unpopular.

Many people think stoics are emotionless. They’re not. Stoics throughout history had strong beliefs and advocated for what they thought was right. The question for leaders: Will you stand up for what’s right now? Or will you wait until it’s safe and convenient?

Do you wait for everyone else to say something before you speak? Or do you have the courage of your convictions?

This connects back to courage. It takes courage to do the right thing when it might cost you socially or professionally. But that’s what great leaders do. They speak out when it’s not popular. They advocate for what they believe even when it’s risky. Justice means doing what’s fair and pro-social now, not later when everyone else agrees.

10. Wisdom Takes Work by Ryan Holiday

Wisdom is a practice loop: learn, apply, reflect.

Holiday’s fourth virtue is wisdom, and his concept is simple but powerful. You can get less wise as you get older if you become more certain and less curious.

Wisdom is cultivated through a specific process:

Learn: Take in new information and ideas
Apply: Test those ideas in the real world
Reflect: Evaluate what worked and what didn’t

This is exactly what I hope you’ll do with these big ideas.

Don’t just read about vulnerability, starting with why, extreme ownership, and radical candor. Apply them. Try them in real situations with your team.

Then reflect. What worked? What didn’t? How can you improve?

That practice loop is how you develop wisdom as a leader.

Bringing It All Together

These 10 ideas might seem contradictory at first.

Be vulnerable (Brené Brown) but take extreme ownership (Jocko Willink). Be humble (Jim Collins) but have unwavering will. Care personally (Kim Scott) but challenge directly.

But great leadership requires holding these paradoxes simultaneously.

You need vulnerability to build trust. You need ownership to solve problems. You need humility to learn. You need will to push through challenges.

You need to care about people deeply while being honest about performance. You need to start with purpose while being disciplined about execution.

The best leaders have range. They can be vulnerable when it builds trust and strong when it drives results.

They can be humble about themselves while being fierce about their mission.

That’s what makes leadership hard. But that’s also what makes it powerful.

Check out this week’s podcast episode, where I go deeper into all 10 books. Let me know which leadership framework resonates most with you.

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