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.

But here’s the irony: most leaders don’t sound robotic because they don’t care. They sound robotic because they care too much.

They’re terrified of saying the wrong thing. So they soft-cushion every sentence to be as inclusive as possible.

Until nothing edgy remains.

But the moment you remove the risk, you also remove the resonance.

You can’t expect emotion when you refuse to show any.
You can’t move people when you hide what moves you.
You can’t build trust with sentences that sound robotic.

Talking like that is like trying to hug a machine. It might respond, but it won’t respond to you.

People don’t want leaders who sound perfect. They want leaders who sound real.

They want to hear the quiver in your voice when something truly matters.

They want to hear the passion when you’re truly excited about something.

So stop running your words through the corporate filter that kills everything human about them.

And start saying things the way you’d say them to a friend you deeply respect.

That’s the easiest way to not sound like a robot.
Simply let them hear that there’s a person speaking.

Keep lighting the path,
Michael

I’ve been working on something I’m personally very excited about. And I would love your opinion on it.

It’s called “What the Best Leaders Say”.

If my regular posts gives you a taste of what lighting the path means, this new thing will reveal how it really works.

A much more in-depth look at what the best leaders do differently, but at the same time much more actionable.

• What exactly in the way they show up and speak up makes them so charismatic?
• How exactly do they change people’s minds so effortlessly while almost everyone else needs to rely on authority?
• Why do people hang on their every word while others need to battle for attention?

Questions like these will be at the center of “What the Best Leaders Say”. So what is it?

It’s a new newsletter I’m launching. Each piece will reveal how real leaders navigate messy, high-stakes moments. Highly actionable, well-researched advice you won’t find anywhere else. My goal is that you can immediately apply what you learn to change minds and drive action.

It’s going to be a paid (but very affordable) offering, with a new in-depth piece every other week.

If that’s something you’d want to read, I would love to hear from you. Either reply to this email with your thoughts or simply put your name on the waitlist so I can inform you when it’s ready.

One more thing: Don’t worry, this free newsletter will not change. It’s here to stay and will only get better as a result.

I’m really looking forward to this. If you’re leading with ambition, I think you’re going to absolutely love this.

Keep lighting the path,
Michael

Isn’t it strange how often force is mistaken for influence?

If people are not moving, leaders push harder.
Raise the stakes.
Raise the volume.

But by doing so they create counter-force. Resistance.

And so, even if people will eventually move, it costs so much energy on both sides. Simply exhausting.

Others play a very different game.

They do not force movement.
They make direction unmistakably clear.
In a way that makes sense and feels right for the team.

Movement becomes the natural response.

Don’t persuade harder, resonate stronger!

And keep lighting the path,
Michael

Most people dress up their ideas to make them sound more impressive. I prefer to strip them down until what’s left is undeniable.

Just like a diamond, a brilliant idea doesn’t need decoration.
It needs polish.

Strip away everything that doesn’t contribute meaning and then tell a true story about what’s left in the most plain and simple words you can find.

Keep lighting the path,
Michael

The best part of my recent keynote at Vonk wasn’t anything I said. It was what the attendees shared. At the end of my talk I handed out cards with a single statement on it:

“How I once lit the path”

I asked everyone to fill it out and hang it on the wall in the back of the room. And that was golden. It was living proof for something I deeply believe in: When you’re in a room full of smart people, all you need to do is to tap into the brilliance of everyone.

I love how different the stories were. Here are a few that caught my eye:

“By showing a company that it’s not about them. In communication, it’s about the people they serve.”
I can so relate to this. Most businesses write messages to pass 12 rounds of approval which means they are much more written to please the boss than to resonate with the customer. Change that and customers will lean in.

“I started communicating with a more personal tone, which made employees feel more connected.”
That’s the kind of change most people underestimate. Tone is what tells people whether you actually mean it.

“I helped our management team carry out a tough restructuring with authentic, respectful, and empathetic communication.”
That’s so difficult, especially when the news is bad. But it matters so much.

“I had a beer with my opponents.”
Perfect. Sometimes the best progress starts when you stop defending your position and start talking like humans again.

“Gave confirmation, said thank you, so they knew they were on the right path.”
So simple. Yet that’s all that’s sometimes needed: to know you’re seen and that your effort matters.

“I helped the management team define their KPIs in a way that every coworker could understand.”
We need not simpler goals, but clearer ones. So clear that they actually make sense for the people tasked with bringing the strategy to life.

How did you once light the path?

Keep the light on,
Michael

PS: If you want to bring this spark into your organization, I still have a few Q1 dates open for keynotes. Just hit reply!