Do We Promote the Wrong People? One of the things I liked about Ted Lasso was that Ted, played by Jason Sudeikis, walked into AFC Richmond knowing very little about soccer. Think about that. He's hired to lead people who know far more about their profession than he does. By the traditional definition, he has no business being there. Yet Ted's real strength isn't knowing soccer. It's knowing people. He listens. He sees things others miss. He gets people who don't particularly like each other to eventually fight for each other. And he isn't threatened when someone in the room knows more than he does. That raises a question I've seen organizations wrestle with for years. We often promote the person who's best at the job and then expect them to suddenly become great at leading the people who do the job. Those are two very different skills. So here's today's debate. If you had to choose between two people to lead your best team, who gets the job? The person with exceptional technical knowledge but average people skills? Or the person with exceptional people skills who isn't the strongest technical expert in the room? You only get one. Who are you choosing, and why?

But here's what I've learned: the emotions you're avoiding are exactly where your growth lives. That frustration with your team? It's not about them. It's pointing to something you need to communicate or clarify. That anxiety before a big ask? It's not a sign you're not ready. It's information about your own beliefs about your worth. That resentment you're feeling? It's telling you that you've overcommitted or misaligned with your values. Your emotions aren't the problem. They're the data. When you develop emotional awareness, you make better decisions. You communicate more clearly. You lead with more integrity. You know what you actually want versus what you think you should want. You build teams that aren't held together by your force of will, but by real connection and shared values. The most effective leaders I know aren't the ones who ignore their emotions. They're the ones who can feel them, understand what they're signaling, and make conscious choices based on that information. This is the work underneath sustainable business growth. What emotion has been showing up for you lately that you've been trying to push past? What might it be trying to tell you?

How you show up emotionally, how you make decisions when you're tired, how you communicate under pressure, how you know your own limits, how you treat people when things get hard, what you actually value versus what you think you should value, these are not nice-to-haves. They're everything. Real leadership starts with you. What's one area of your leadership right now where you know you're not showing up the way you want to?

“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.” That one made me stop for a minute. Because sometimes we don't intentionally lower a standard. We just don't address something. A missed commitment happens again. A conversation keeps getting pushed off. Something isn't quite right, but we decide, “It's not that big of a deal.” Until it becomes normal. So, I'm curious: What's something you've realized you've been tolerating longer than you should? Or, if you finally addressed it, what made you decide it was time?

Every morning you wake up, you make a decision. You might not realize you're making it, but you are. You decide who you are today. Are you the person who keeps her word to herself? Or the person who says yes to everything and burns out? Are you the leader who knows what she stands for? Or the one who shifts depending on who's in the room? Are you the person who asks for help? Or the one who has to do it all alone? These aren't one-time decisions. They're daily choices. This is the work: deciding. And then choosing that decision again tomorrow. Who do you want to be as a leader? Not for your business. For yourself. Write it down. Let that be what you choose tomorrow.