When diagnosing a failing department, stop looking for tactical issues. The problem is always the leader, full stop. A great leader can turn a mediocre team into a great one, but a mediocre leader will inevitably turn a great team mediocre. Don't waste time; solve the leadership problem first.

Leaders often feel pressured to act, creating 'motion' simply to feel productive. True 'momentum,' however, is built by first stepping back to identify the *right* first step. This ensures energy is directed towards focused progress on core challenges, not just scattered activity.

If a team is constantly struggling with prioritization, the root cause isn't poor task management; it's the absence of a clear, unifying strategy. A strong, insight-based strategy makes prioritization implicit, naturally aligning the organization and reducing distractions.

Effective leaders operate in a "square wave" pattern. They spend time on high-level strategy, then dive vertically into the granular details of a key problem, solve it alongside the team, and then return to the big picture. This is "founder mode."

Leaders' primary blind spots are an over-focus on internal operations ('inside out') while ignoring market realities ('outside in'), and spending too much time on analysis while neglecting the disciplined execution of the chosen strategy. Balancing these internal/external and planning/doing tensions is critical.

Companies typically fail from poor execution, not poor vision. Success depends on navigating a handful of pivotal 'moments of truth' over a lifetime. The most critical leadership skill isn't just making the right choice, but first identifying that a rare, critical decision point has arrived.

"Seagull leadership" is dropping a new idea on your team without a clear plan for implementation, support, or training. To avoid this, leaders must meticulously plan every step of a new initiative—from process to customer impact—before presenting it to the team.

A common leadership trap is feeling the need to be the smartest person with all the answers. The more leveraged skill is ensuring the organization focuses on solving the right problem. As Einstein noted, defining the question correctly is the majority of the work toward the solution.

Many leaders focus on having the correct analysis. However, true leadership requires understanding that being right is useless if you can't persuade and influence others. The most successful leaders shift their focus from proving their correctness to finding the most effective way to communicate and achieve their goals.