In a few days, my new project “What the Best Leaders Say” will launch. I thought it would be fun to look at the opposite first. The things they never say. What makes this list interesting to me is that most of it sounds reasonable at first sight. Human even. Like, this is a caring person. But in my experience, it often achieves the opposite of what was intended. Worse, I’ve even sometimes seen them being used to manipulate. To give the appearance of calm and clarity while the reality is...
3 days ago • 1 min read
I get it: The world doesn’t need another newsletter.But you know what? I don’t care. I launch one anyway. I want a place where I can go deep. Much deeper than in my usual posts. Where I can write the kind of pieces I wished existed when I was trying to make sense of leadership myself many years ago. A place where simplistic hacks are unwelcome. Because we value profound answers over quick ones. A place where we don’t stop at the recipe but try to understand why it works, where it works. And...
6 days ago • 1 min read
You make a call that will upset people.You know it.And you still have to make it. That’s leadership. But here’s what most leaders miss.You don’t lose your people because of the decision.You lose them because they don’t see the fight that led to it. They see the outcome.Not the sleepless nights.Not the trade-offs.Not the part where you tried to protect what matters most. In a world where only 14 percent still trust senior leaders to make the right calls, that’s a real problem. Your people...
7 days ago • 1 min read
After yesterday’s post, another thoughtful question came up: “What if the people who find my message beautiful aren’t my customers?” Fair point. And a smart one. Here’s how I think about it. If the message feels deeply right to you — not pretty, not clever, but right — that’s telling you something about what you stand for. It reveals the kind of meaning you want to create in the world. And that, in turn, shapes the kind of people who will want to work with you. So yes, maybe not everyone who...
8 days ago • 1 min read
I got a little pushback on yesterday’s post about beauty, the main objection being this: “Beautiful is subjective!” To which I say: Exactly. That’s the point. Beauty is subjective.It’s why it works. A message that’s truly beautiful to some will never land with everyone. Fantastic, I say. You’ve found your people. It draws in those who see the world through a similar lens, who share your sense of truth and meaning. Your message turns from a generic something that serves everyone into a beloved...
9 days ago • 1 min read
You know what word we almost never hear in business conversations about communication? Beautiful. We talk about messages being clear. Concise. Strategic.But beautiful? Never. And yet, when a message truly resonates, that’s exactly what it is. Beautiful. Isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think that artificially decorating a message to make it look prettier will make it the least bit more effective. I’m also not suggesting to look at this as poetry. It’s more like the other way around. When...
10 days ago • 1 min read
You know how many times someone told me I needed to change? That I was too calm.Too nice.Too patient. Like, “Michael, that’s not how you show up in business. You’ve gotta have a commanding voice. You’ve gotta show dominance.” And for a while, I actually tried.I played that game.I pushed harder.I tried to make my words command attention instead of invite it. And guess what? It worked. Kind of. Because it also didn’t work. It never stopped feeling wrong. It simply wasn’t me. That’s why I never...
13 days ago • 1 min read
Once upon a time, leadership was simple.You gave orders. People obeyed. Factories ran. Ships sailed. Things got done. Then, some of us wanted more.And so, we invented incentives. We built systems of carrots and sticks. And it worked. Factories ran faster.Ships sailed more often.Things got done more efficiently. Until people got used to the incentives.And stopped caring. The bravest of us stepped up.“We’re leading the way,” they said. Be the example. Be the vision. And it worked.People...
14 days ago • 1 min read
New thoughts on The Art of Communicating … The quiver in your voice when something truly mattersPublished on November 5, 2025 You know why most leaders lose their teams?Because they talk like robots. Perfectly polished.But completely lifeless. When you say, “We will leverage synergies to optimize strategic alignment,” what the team hears is white noise. There’s no heartbeat in it.No pulse. It’s words that could have been written by anyone for anyone.They tick all the boxes but light no spark....
15 days ago • 5 min read
