A global quantitative study found that the number one factor in making employees feel valued—a key driver of sustainable growth—was having a boss who tells them what to do, not how to do it. This approach, dubbed "treating smart people like they're smart," empowers them to use their own expertise.

To differentiate talent, serial founder Brad Jacobs imagines a key employee resigning. If his reaction is relief, they're a C-player. If it's manageable inconvenience, a B-player. But if the thought induces "pure terror and absolute panic," they are an irreplaceable A-player you must retain.

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.

Shift your mindset from feeling responsible for your employees' actions and feelings to being responsible *to* them. Fulfill your obligations of providing training, resources, and clear expectations, but empower them to own their own performance and problems.

Focusing on individual performance metrics can be counterproductive. As seen in the "super chicken" experiment, top individual performers often succeed by suppressing others. This lowers team collaboration and harms long-term group output, which can be up to 160% more productive than a group of siloed high-achievers.

To motivate and retain employees, especially in a challenging market, leaders must shift their perspective from 'they work for me' to 'I work for them.' This servant-leadership approach involves genuinely caring about your team's well-being and success, which fosters loyalty and improves performance.

"Glue employees" are team members with high EQ who proactively help others and prioritize the team's success. They are multipliers but often go unnoticed because they aren't traditional "star" performers. Leaders should actively identify them by asking team members who helps them the most and then reward them accordingly.

New managers often fear that promoting their team's accomplishments will make them seem unnecessary. In reality, a key indicator of a successful manager is when senior leaders know the individual names of their team members, demonstrating the manager's ability to build talent and get results.

People naturally start their jobs motivated and wanting to succeed. A leader's primary role isn't to be a motivational speaker but to remove the environmental and managerial barriers that crush this intrinsic drive. The job is to hire motivated people and get out of their way.