Powering Gemba Walks with Artificial Intelligence | Follow for posts on Continuous Improvement and Innovation

Hi - I'm Ivan, an industrial engineer with 7+ years of experience in Operations Management and Kaizen.

I serve two main groups of people:

1. Executives tired of broken processes burning money - I show them how to fix it and recapture 15-30% in Muda

2. Founders in Continuous Improvement who know their stuff but can't crack LinkedIn - I show them how to turn it into a legit revenue channel

(send me a direct message for more info)

I started writing on LinkedIn in October 2023. Since then, I have been sharing actionable, educational, and entertaining content to support LinkedIn community members in their Kaizen journey. It helped me grow my audience from 9,000 to 100,000 followers in 2024.

I have been posting around:

	• Continuous Improvement
	• Lean Manufacturing
	• Growth Mindset
	• Innovation

Including insights on 5S, Value Stream Mapping, Leadership, Industry 4.0, and Problem Solving. 

Now I'm building Gemba Walk AI to make every Gemba Walk part of a learning system, where collective insights drive faster, better decisions than any single expert could achieve.

For free weekly tips, subscribe to The Kaizen Geek newsletter.

Ivan Carillo

You've got the organizational pyramid upside down.
 
Most organizations look like this:
 
-CEO 
-VPs
-Managers 
-Supervisors
-Frontline Workers
 
But successful Kaizen companies flip it:
 
+Frontline Workers
+Supervisors
+Managers
+VPs
+CEO
 
Why does this matter?
 
Traditional Thinking:
"Management knows best"
 
Kaizen Thinking:
"Those doing the work know best"
 
In the flipped pyramid:
 
+Decisions flow UP from the Gemba
+Leadership serves those who serve customers
+Managers become obstacle removers, not order givers

Powering Gemba Walks with Artificial Intelligence

If your processes are broken, stop blaming people.

(do this instead)

To solve a problem, 
you must first become aware of it.

Here's yours: your standardization sucks.

Taiichi Ohno once said:
"Without standards, there can be no Kaizen."

Yet most "standards" are..

→ 47-page documents nobody reads
→ Outdated procedures from 2019
→ Tribal knowledge in someone's head

Standardization is something different.

I learned this watching a subway crew in Asia last year:

→ 9 minutes to clean an entire train.
→ 50+ people doing it identically.
→ Zero supervision needed.

Their secret?

Visual standards everywhere.

→ Floor marks for equipment placement
→ Colour codes for cleaning sequences
→ Shadow boards for every tool

Not robots.
Empowered humans with solid methods.

When problems occur, they ask:

"How did the standard fail?"
Not "Who failed?"

P.S. Can a new employee follow your standards on day one?

If not, you don't have standards.

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Founder

Advisor

Writer

Amazon

Junior Research Assistant

Powering Gemba Walks with Artificial Intelligence  | Follow for posts on Continuous Improvement and Innovation

English

Italian

Don't overcomplicate things.
Choose Wisely.
Build Simple.
Think Lean.

Kaizen vs. Innovation 

Both are essential, but they serve different purposes. 

Kaizen:  

+Incremental improvement  
+Low risk  
+High involvement  
+Low investment  
+Immediate results  
+Continuous process 

Innovation:  

+Breakthrough change  
+Higher risk  
+Specialized teams  
+Larger investment  
+Delayed results  
+Periodic events 

Best companies don't choose between them. 

They use Kaizen to optimize current operations  
and Innovation to create new value. 

Kaizen builds the foundation that makes Innovation possible. 
Innovation creates the leap that Kaizen then refines. 

Together, they form a powerful system for sustainable growth.

Never invent rules from the Ivory Tower. 

Go to the Gemba instead.

When British colonizers faced a cobra problem in Delhi, they had a 'brilliant' idea: 

Pay people for every dead cobra.

It worked. At first.

Then someone realized: 
Why hunt cobras when you can farm them?

Cobra farms sprouted up. 
The government stopped the bounty. 

The farmers released their snakes. 
Delhi ended up with MORE cobras than before.

This is the Cobra Effect. And it happens in your plant too.

You create a metric. 
Your team hits the target. 
The real problem gets worse.

Why? 

People game bad metrics instead of solving problems.

I've seen it hundreds of times on the Gemba:

-operators hiding defects to hit quality targets
-teams rushing through audits to meet completion rates
-supervisors closing tickets without fixing root causes

PS: What's the worst metric gaming you've seen?

Do you wanna start your Continuous Improvement journey?

Learn to see the 3M's of Lean.

Most leaders can't see waste.
Because they don't know the 3M's:

The 3M's of Lean refer to  

+Muda
+Mura
+Muri

Three Japanese terms used in the Toyota Production System (TPS).

These concepts are key to identifying why your processes are broken:

1/ Muda → Waste

What customers won't pay for.

Muda can be further classified into:

→ Type I: Muda which cannot be eliminated immediately
→ Type II: Muda which can be eliminated quickly through Kaizen

Example: 

I watched a nurse walk 2.7 miles per shift.
Not caring for patients. Just fetching supplies.

That's Muda.

***
2/ Mura → Unevenness

Mura can be seen as variation in quality, cost, or delivery.

It often leads to Muri and Muda.

Example:

Monday: Skeleton crew drowning
Friday: Full staff standing idle

Creating both overtime costs AND wasted wages.
That's Mura.

***
3/ Muri → Overburden

Unreasonable stress or burden placed 
on workers and processes.

Muri often results in safety and quality issues.

Example:

Expecting 60 minutes of work
in 45-minute windows.

Guaranteeing mistakes and burnout.
That's Muri.

P.S. Which M is killing your operation?

Look closer. It's all three.

Companies waste millions on complex automation while ignoring 5S. 

(which could solve 80% of their efficiency problems) 

This doesn't mean automation is wrong. 
But it should build upon, not replace, solid 5S basics. 

5S is a systematic method for workplace organization. 
It uses 5 principles starting with 'S':  

1/ SEIRI (Sort) 
 ↳ Remove unnecessary items 
 ↳ Keep only what's needed 
 ↳ Eliminate clutter 

2/ SEITON (Set in Order) 
 ↳ Organize remaining items 
 ↳ "A place for everything" 
 ↳ Label and mark locations 

3/ SEISO (Shine) 
 ↳ Clean thoroughly 
 ↳ Regular maintenance 
 ↳ Inspect while cleaning 

4/ SEIKETSU (Standardize) 
 ↳ Create consistent procedures 
 ↳ Document best practices 
 ↳ Visual management 

5/ SHITSUKE (Sustain) 
 ↳ Maintain the system 
 ↳ Regular audits 
 ↳ Make it habitual 

Most teams stop at Shine.

Clean up. Celebrate. Move on.

But without standards, there's no way to maintain it. 
Without discipline, it's just another "program."

Programs come and go. 
5S should be daily practice.

Most people are standing in the wrong line.

Look at this image ↓

Where do you stand when change hits?

Five doors. 
Five lines.
Five responses to change.

Two are packed: resist and complain. 
These lines never get shorter.

Acceptance? A few people. 
Advocacy? Even fewer.
Leadership? Nearly empty.

This is about human nature.

We gather where it feels safe.
But impact lives in the empty lines.

Fast, Cheap, Good - Pick two.

(trade-offs are inevitable)

"We need it fast, under budget, and perfect."

Everyone knows it's impossible. Nobody says it.

Three months later: 

The project is late, over budget, or broken.

You can't have everything.

The worst project managers? 

They promise all three. 
Then they blame the team when it doesn't work.

The most common tendency? Falling into the blame trap. But Deming proved this decades ago:


85% of performance problems come from broken systems and processes. Only 15% stem from workers themselves.

Yet when something goes wrong, we immediately ask: "Who messed up?" Wrong question.

The right question: "What in our process allowed this to happen?"

When you blame people for system failures, you fix nothing. You destroy morale and ensure the same problem happens again.

Your people want to do good work. Give them a process that makes it possible.

PS. Gemba Walks make processes visible. 

I wrote Gemba Moonwalker, a 55-page ebook that can help you build your Kaizen culture (one walk at a time).

Download it here, it's free: https://lnkd.in/dj8wmpQS

47 times I walked past it. Third week at the plant. Same operator, same station same routine. Everything looked "normal." Then my mentor asked:


"What do you see?"

"An operator doing his job well."

He smiled. "Count the steps."

That's when it hit me:

Worker picking up part → 3 steps
Getting tool → 7 steps
Processing part → 0 steps (machine does the work)
Returning tool → 7 steps
Placing finished part → 5 steps

22 steps total. 
Only 1 activity added value.

So, obviously, this layout sucks.

PS. What waste are you walking past every day?

Think about this morning. How much time did you spend searching for your phone, a file, or a tool? That's Muda.

Looking for things adds no value. It wastes skills and creative potential. Every minute searching creates frustration and dissatisfaction.

Now multiply one person's search time by the number of people who search and how often they search. By every day of the year.

That's the real cost of disorganization.
Every minute searching: 
→ Adds zero value 
→ Wastes talent 
→ Creates frustration

And it's costing you more than you think.

Disorganization costs you money, talent, and opportunity every single day. Your team wastes hours that could solve real problems instead.

PS. What did you spend 10 minutes looking for today?

Everyone wants to jump straight to solutions. But you can't improve what you don't understand. Before building your continuous improvement culture, answer this:


Where exactly are you now?

Rate your organization (0-10) on:

→ "We" vs "Me" mindset
→ Accountability vs Blame
→ Continuous Learning vs Know-It-All
→ Standardization vs Chaos
→ Prevention vs Fire-Fighting
→ Data-Driven vs Gut-Feel

The gaps you find are your roadmap.

PLEASE
 
Stop providing vague or no feedback. 
 
That's hurting your team.

Image credit to Edoardo Pallaro (give him a follow)
 
Yeah, ‘you need to improve’ or ‘Great job’ isn't enough.
It never actually was.
 
According to Zippia, 72% of people find their work
more satisfying if their company have a feedback culture. 
 
What’s the difference?
 
Vague:
 
"You need to be more creative with your proposal."
 
Actionable Feedback:
 
"Try adding diagrams in your proposal. It will add more appeal."
 
Here are 5 ways you can give actionable feedback:
 
1/ Be Specific. And Clear
 
 ↳ Avoid vague statements 
 ↳ Use clear, and objective language 
 ↳ Clearly outline the actionable steps
 
2/ Focus on Behaviours
 
 ↳ Use non-judgemental language to make your point
 ↳ Separate the individual from the action
 
3/ Offer a Path Forward
 
↳ Encourage them to develop a growth mindset 
↳ Rather than being stuck on wrong, give them a way to move forward 
 
4/ Create a Safe Space
 
↳ Be transparent. And talk openly
↳ Demand the same from them 
 
5/ Keep It Regular
 
↳ Integrate actionable feedback into your people management style
↳ Schedule 1:1 meetings to address key concerns.
  
P.S: What’s your approach to feedback?

Innovation isn't a way to justify your salary. Listen to your customers. Identify their real pain points. Then solve their problems. Here's how:
  

Start with what your customers actually need. Don't innovate for the sake of novelty. Turn customer input into innovation instead. 

Here are the main steps I suggest you follow:

Listen first → Talk to customers before building anything new.

Solve real problems → Focus on what's broken or missing. 

Use what work → Don't rebuild from scratch when proven solutions exist.

Hire expertise → Bring in people who've already solved similar problems.

Innovation is about making things work better for the people who use them.

PS. You have another way besides Innovation to improve:

Kaizen →  Small improvements through ongoing human effort, teamwork, and training.

If you like Kaizen, you'll enjoy my weekly newsletter.

Join here: ivancarillo.com

KISS emphasizes simplicity over complexity. Here is the core idea: 


Simpler solutions are more robust, easier to understand, and less prone to errors.

Simplicity should be your key design goal. This means prioritizing essential features and avoiding over-engineering.

Use KISS in problem-solving, software engineering, product design, and beyond. 

Remember:

Straightforward approaches consistently outperform complex ones.

You can order sushi by menu
 
Or you can say “I trust you”.
 
Credit to Marco Zima Simonella (give him a follow)
 
Original post below:
 
My family loves sushi.
Even my kids scream “sushiii” every Friday.
It’s our little tradition.
 
This week we shifted it to yesterday.
You can skip a Friday.
But not a full week.
 
Especially after we spent the Christmas week in Sicily without sushi!
 
We ordered delivery and I picked the different sushi types for the whole family.
 
And it made me think of omakase.
The classic Japanese way to eat sushi.
 
It politely says:
I trust you.
 
That trust is not just handed out.
Sushi chefs spend 10s of years mastering the skills and earning it.
 
Promotions work the same way.
You can get the title but trust comes later.
You earn it by mastering the skills of leadership.
 
Until people can finally say:
I trust you.

Turning product managers into leaders in conflict and ambiguity | Global Product Leader

The future belongs to community builders who understand that value comes from real connections between people. Here are the communities I will be part of in 2026:
 

We're heading toward a world flooded with low-quality AI content. As more people spend time with synthetic chat that feels human (but isn't quite), the ability to be in a virtual space and in real life with other human beings is only getting more valuable. Especially people who are on the same path.
 
With every new person who joins a community of people on the same path, new stories emerge. Things they've tried, things they've done that could be incredibly valuable to you. That is only possible when human beings come together with human beings.
 
These are the communities I am betting on to strengthen my new identity in 2026:
 
Nomads.com → I travel a lot since I left my corporate career. I realised that I like to travel slowly so that I can establish new habits where I am and make local friends. They call it slowmading. Pieter Levels' community is interesting. The guy has a way of looking at life that I like, so I hope to find more people here who vibe the way I do.
 
Modern Maker → My friend Jacob Pegs excudes incredible energy, and the people who interact with him know it.  I have been part of his community for over a year now, but not very actively in 2025. When I went back to read their conversations, I was really impressed. I will be more present this year (https://lnkd.in/dDdTUa7Y)
 
MicroConf Connect → Rob Walling books are the best I have found on the subject of bootstrapped SaaS. It feels natural to me to become part of his community. I haven't signed up yet, but I'm sure I'll find some good vibes there.
 
Kaizen Community → I plan to build my community in 2026. I want to give leaders who are building a Kaizen culture the opportunity to share their experiences. I haven't set anything up yet, but you can express your interest in joining here: https://tally.so/r/VLGV5E
 
PS. You can still stand out with content, but you'll by being more human.

Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired magazine, distilled decades of wisdom into his book 'Excellent Advice for Living'. Here are my favourite pieces of advice from him:
 
1/ Prototype your life. Try stuff instead of making grand plans.
 
I walked away from my corporate life with no backup plan. I don't have all the answers to move forward, and that's ok. I am letting curiosity guide me. Every day, I do more of what I love and less of what drains me. Action beats planning. Start before you're ready. Build something real, even if it's messy. 
 
2/ Don't measure your life with someone else's ruler.
 
When I joined Amazon, I told myself: "senior manager in 7 years." I worked harder than anyone around me to hit that target. For a while, it worked. Then I realized I was following someone else's playbook. Your definition of success is the only one that matters. Stop comparing yourself to others. What brings them joy might bore you to tears. 
 
3/ A major part of travel is to leave stuff behind. The more you leave behind the further you will advance.
 
I'm minimalist, but I still struggle to let go—especially of relationships that no longer serve me. It's painful but necessary. Leave room in your bag for what you'll discover. The lighter you travel, the faster you move.
 
4/ Gratitude will unlock all other virtues and is something you can get better at.

I'll explore the science of gratitude ore in 2026, as I don't practise it enough. Most people practice gratitude wrong. Listing what you're grateful for produces weak results. The real power comes from receiving gratitude or witnessing others receive genuine thanks. Find one meaningful story where gratitude was genuinely given and received, then revisit it for 1-5 minutes regularly.
 
5/ Perhaps the most counterintuitive truth of the universe is that the more you give to others the more you’ll get. Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom.
 
I firmly believe in this. And I've experienced it directly on here. Sharing Kaizen tips created opportunities I couldn't have engineered through a conventional path. Reciprocity and contribution create returns, but often in unexpected forms and on longer timelines than pure transactions.

In 28 months, I grew my audience from 0 to 123,140 followers without a team. This required less than $10,000 but more than 2,000 hours of practice and study. Here's a candid analysis of my first days of 2026 on LinkedIn:


LinkedIn is the best B2B growth engine on the planet, but for me it has always been something different.
 
In 2024, it was a way to prove my worth or vent my frustration, depending on the day.
 
In 2025, I approached the platform in a much healthier way. Rather than being results-oriented, I focused on the process. I mainly wrote content about Kaizen, and I really enjoyed it. But in December something changed. I've probably changed.
 
I realize that I have less interest in what I see here. The human component is often missing. AI-generated content, AI lazy comments, soulless things, general BS that nobody cares about. And I haven't always been a good role model.
 
In 2026, LinkedIn will definitely be something else for me. Instead of quitting, I will spend more time here trying to align my activities with my truest identity.
 
Here's what I've tried so far and the findings:

January 2026 compared to December 2025
 
Posts: 41 vs. 34
Impressions: 1.9M vs. 945.9K
Reactions: 11.1K vs. 5.5K
Comments: 1.9K vs. 1.2K
Reposts: 1K vs. 628
Followers: 123.1K vs. 121.4K
Newsletter Subscribers: +1,182
Newsletter Open Rate: 53.95%
 
Top performing posts:
 
Organizational Pyramid - 565,653 impressions https://lnkd.in/dWSWn8N5
Trailer Unloading - 296,323 impressions https://lnkd.in/d8-q8_6f
Cobra Effect - 225,671 impressions https://lnkd.in/djD3phxg

My notes:
 
Simple sketches work for me. And that's a good news.
 
I was getting tired of traditional infographics. I've done a lot of them over the last two years, but now they all seem the same to me. I'm out for now.
 
I reposted a piece of content that went viral after a week. Same media, same hook, more insights. It worked again. Content pre-validation still matters. I revamped some stuff that worked in the past and it went viral again.
 
Room for improvement:
 
I am not managing my comments section as well as I could be. Since the content lasts for several days, I should come back several times to comment (but I don't). I need to encourage more genuine conversations there.
 
How is your LinkedIn going so far?
 
P.S. if you're struggling to grow your LinkedIn and:
 
+you're a 6 figure CI or Innovation leader
+you commit to make LinkedIn a legit revenue channel
 
but you're not getting your dream outcome
 
I'm looking to work 1:1 with some legends to help them fix that.
 
Subscribe to the waitlist now: https://lnkd.in/dhwJv49b

Management Consultant | Coaching managers to transition from middle management stagnancy to senior leadership flourishing | DM “MIDDLE” to get started

You’re a mid-level manager doing everything right, but still watching others move into senior roles ahead of you.

The truth is, most mid-managers get stuck at the same place: doing great work, but still being seen as the executor, not the strategic leader. 
Not the one with vision. 
Not someone decision-makers view as executive material.

I’m Marija, and for almost 20 years, I’ve helped Fortune 500 management teams bridge the gap between "get the stuff done" and "trusted advisor". I’ve learned that breaking into senior leadership has very little to do with more credential and everything to do with how you're perceived.

That’s why I created the Pathway to Senior Leadership workshop. 

In it, I’ll show you:
	• The career mistakes that quietly keep managers stuck in the middle
	• How to advocate for yourself without waiting for permission
	• And how to lead with influence, so the right people champion your next promotion
	
If you're tired of being overlooked, this is the strategy you've been waiting for. 

A clear, actionable plan to help you move into senior leadership in months, not years.

Marija Stevanovic

A rule for career growth:
 
You will never feel ready for leadership.
Step up anyway.
 
I've seen this pattern again and again.
 
The first attempt is always uncomfortable.
 
You hesitate in the exec room.
Your 1:1s feel clumsy.
You over-own. Or you pull back too much.
 
Nothing feels natural yet.
 
Then something shifts.
 
The second month is steadier.
The third, clearer.
 
Not because you learned more theory.
 
But because leadership problems don't arrive on paper.
They arrive live.
 
I've read the books.
I know the frameworks.
 
None of them prepared me for:
– reading a room under pressure
– holding tension without rushing to fix it
– making a call with incomplete information
 
That only comes from doing.
 
Confidence isn't something you think your way into.
It forms after decisions.
 
Want to lead well?
Make the call.
Have the conversation you're avoiding.
Take ownership when it’s uncomfortable.
 
That's how judgment is built.
 
Imposter syndrome doesn't mean you're unqualified.
It means you're aware.
 
If you feel out of your depth, good.
You can see the gap.
 
And gaps are workable.
 
So don't wait to feel ready.
 
Take the role.
Lead the bigger scope.
Give the feedback.
Speak before you’re certain.
 
Leadership isn't about certainty.
It's about stepping in anyway.
 
—
 
If you're done waiting and want to grow into senior leadership intentionally,
DM me "MIDDLE."
 
That's where we start.

Image source: Instagram, original creator uknown

Everyone wants to be a senior leader.
Almost no one wants the process required to become one.
 
They want the title.
The visibility.
The influence.
 
But not the transformation.
 
Because the real work looks like this:
☑️ Rebuilding your identity when praise disappears
☑️ Staying steady while others pass you by
☑️ Making hard calls with no applause or certainty
 
It's not a promotion.
It's a rewiring.
 
When I stopped chasing the title
and committed to the process, everything shifted.
 
Here's what leadership taught me the hard way:
 
1️⃣ Growth is lonely before it's respected
You'll outgrow rooms before earning access to better ones.
➡️ Silence isn't failure. It's part of the gap.
 
2️⃣ Mastery requires subtraction
Advancement comes from letting go, not adding more.
➡️ Stop proving. Start directing.
 
3️⃣ Real leadership is invisible at first
The higher you go, the less credit you receive.
➡️ Build value, not validation.
 
4️⃣ Power moves before confidence arrives
Waiting to feel ready costs momentum.
➡️ Act while it's uncomfortable.
 
5️⃣ Transformation demands release
Of approval.
Of being the best.
Of playing safe.
➡️ Senior leadership isn't a reward, but reckoning.
 
If you want the outcome,
you have to survive the becoming.
 
Most won't.
Not from incapability
but from misreading discomfort as disqualification.
 
🔥 What part of leadership has tested you the most?
 
♻ Repost to normalize real leadership.
🔔 Follow for frameworks that accelerate your leadership growth.

Not every challenge to your leadership is loud.
 
Some arrive dressed as "feedback" or "fit".
 
It's not always direct. But you feel it.
 
When your clarity is labeled intensity.
When your standards are called too much.
When your vision is seen as a risk, not an asset.
 
These are the moments that sharpen you.
 
They didn't affirm your potential, but questioned your presence.
↳ The exec who told you to tone it down in the boardroom
↳ The peer who dismissed your strategic input as "too ambitious"
↳ The stakeholder who preferred the version of you that played smaller
 
They didn't ask for less leadership. They asked for less of you.
 
Here's the quiet tension that senior leaders face:
 
Some want your title, just not your full expression.
↳ They're fine with visibility, until it comes with authority
↳ They'll support you, if you stay predictable
↳ They accept difference, as long as it doesn't challenge the norm
 
But real leadership doesn't perform. It anchors.
↳ It stays calm when the room gets uncomfortable
↳ It speaks clearly when silence is easier
↳ It holds vision when consensus hasn’t caught up
 
And it rewrites the script.
↳ From "Am I asking for too much?" to "Is this what's needed?"
↳ From "Let me adjust" to "Let me align"
↳ From doubt to direction
 
Who asked you to tone it down just as you were stepping up?
Who made you second-guess what you already knew?
 
That pressure didn't shrink you, rather showed you what to protect.
 
Now, your turn:
Be the person who honors their voice, even when it's inconvenient.
 
Especially when it's inconvenient.
Especially when it's unpopular.
Especially when it would be easier to stay silent.
 
💜 Like if you're committed to leading at the next level
📤 Share with a mid-level leader ready to grow into more

Promotions aren't blocked by skill.
They're blocked by discomfort.
 
Competence is common.
Especially at your level.
Especially among your peers.
 
But senior leadership isn't watching for output.
They're watching for how you hold pressure.
 
They pay attention to how you pause.
How you deliver bad news.
How you react when ignored.
How you lead when things break.
 
When you stop avoiding tension,
Strategy sharpens.
Team trust deepens.
You stand out, quietly.
 
Your discomfort threshold
Matters more than your credentials.
 
Leaders notice who leans in.
Not who knows the answers.
Not who says the right thing.
Just who stays steady.
 
This is how elevation happens.
Through resilience.
 
Try this:
↳ Sit with problems before solving them
↳ Share feedback even when it feels risky
↳ Say "I don’t know" without apology
↳ Take the heat without passing it down
↳ Let silence do its work
 
Discomfort doesn't block leadership.
It reveals it.
 
Remember:
Your next level will require more nerve.
 
💜 Like if comfort's been holding you back
♻️ Share with the manager who leads through pressure, not perfection

Most mid-managers don't lack potential.
 
They lack people who bet on them before it's obvious.
 
Not after the results.
Not once the title changes.
Not when the case study is already written.
 
But earlier.
 
When you're still figuring it out.
Still building trust.
Still proving, to yourself, that you belong in the room.
 
That's when the right people matter most.
→ The ones who speak your name in quiet rooms
→ The ones who give you the project before you've done it
→ The ones who see leadership without waiting for metrics
 
That kind of belief changes how you move.
- You take bigger swings
- You stop playing it safe
- You grow beyond your job description
- You start becoming the leader others lean on
 
I used to think growth was about performance.
 
Now I know it's about proximity.
→ Who bets on you before the win
→ Who builds your reputation when you're not there
→ Who treats you like you already belong
 
If you have those people, protect them.
 
If you are that person, keep going.
 
Because that's how real careers are built.
Long before any title catches up.
 
♻️ Repost this if someone bet on you early and it changed everything.

Image credit: @leadershipfirst on Instagram

The hardest part of getting promoted isn't learning something new.
 
But unlearning what worked before.
 
That quiet recalibration begins with a simple question:
 
What if doing more is holding me back?
 
It's not a lack of skill.
Not a lack of drive.
Not a lack of strategy.
 
It's identity.
 
Most middle managers were rewarded for being dependable, driven, and dialed in.
 
So they build careers on being the glue.
The steady hand.
The ones who always step up.
 
But what got them here won't take them further.
 
Because if you're always stepping in, people wait.
If you always catch the ball, no one else reaches.
If you own everything, you're seen as part of the system, not beyond it.
 
That's the hidden barrier.
From glue to gravity.
From momentum to magnetism.
From doing the work to changing the work.
 
Most managers don't even notice the trap.
 
They're praised for reliability.
So they over-own.
And unintentionally signal: I'm not ready to let go.
 
Remember:
Leadership isn't earned by being essential.
It’s earned by becoming unnecessary.
 
That means disappearing from some rooms.
Letting bad decisions play out.
Allowing silence when you know the answer.
 
If you're stuck between management and leadership, ask yourself:
 
→ What part of me am I protecting by staying busy?
→ Where am I proving I'm capable, when I need to be showing I'm ready?
→ What do I fear will fall apart if I take my hands off the wheel?
 
Senior leaders aren't the most involved.
 
They're the least needed, on purpose.
 
📍 DM me "MIDDLE" if you're ready to become less essential and more influential.

Mid-level careers often get stuck for one simple reason:
 
You only plan around what might go wrong.
 
So, you:
⛔ Stay in the "safe" role too long
⛔Wait until you're 100% ready
⛔Let doubt lead every decision
 
You tell yourself:
"What if I apply and fail?"
"What if I change jobs and regret it?"
"What if I'm not cut out for more?"
 
But you forget the better question:
 
"What if it does work out?"
 
That's when momentum starts to build:
↳ You start seeing openings that match your goals
↳ You stretch before you're "officially" qualified
↳ You build clarity faster than before
↳ You stop hiding your ambition
 
The shift looks like this:
 
1/ You imagine the best case scenario
↳ And you finally start aiming for it.
 
2/ You stop waiting for permission
↳ And start acting like the next level is already yours.
 
3/ You clarify your actual goal
↳ And move beyond vague career growth.
 
4/ You use your current role as a launchpad
↳ Not a ceiling.
 
5/ You tell people what you want
↳ And attract help instead of hiding.
 
6/ You build a strategy for growth
↳ Not a backup plan for failure.
 
7/ You build proof fast
↳ Instead of waiting for someone else to validate you.
 
This is how careers accelerate.
 
Not by fear-proofing every step,
But by focusing on what might go right.
 
Your next level doesn't come from staying safe.
It comes from acting on your best case scenario.
 
📍 DM me "MIDDLE" if you're tired of overthinking your next move, and ready to grow with a plan.
 
Quote and visual credit: amazing @goldiealexx on Instagram

Ever felt like you're just surviving in your role?
 
I have, more times than I can count.
 
Restructures. Mergers. Strategy shifts.
New leaders. New direction. Same cycle.
 
I lost track of how many managers I've had.
How many visions we rolled out and quietly abandoned.
How many high-priority projects vanished overnight.
 
And it left me in a dangerous place:
 
✅ Delivering results
❌ Disconnected from purpose
❌ Waiting for clarity that never came
❌ Postponing growth until things "stabilized"
 
That's the trap of middle management.
 
And I sat in it for too long.
 
Instead of:
- Defining the kind of leader I wanted to become
- Clarifying the legacy I wanted to build
- Reclaiming control of my path
- Designing a strategy to rise, even in uncertainty
 
If that's where you are now, here's what I know:
💥 Conditions won't magically improve
💥 Recognition won't just land in your inbox
💥 But you can stop waiting, and start leading forward
 
You can spend another year:
↳ Overdelivering and staying overlooked
↳ Letting org chaos shape your career
↳ Hoping someone sees your potential
 
Or:
 
You can start showing up like the senior leader you're meant to be.
 
It starts with owning your voice.
Setting your pace.
And leading from where you are, upward.
 
🚀 Let's build your momentum, before the system decides for you.
 
💜 Like if this speaks to where you are
📝 DM me "LEVEL UP" if you're ready to talk
☑️ Follow for frameworks that accelerate your leadership growth

If your influence disappears with your title, it was never leadership.
 
Titles get handed out.
Then handed off.
 
Leadership that only works with a title doesn't last long.
 
Your title can shift.
Your team can change.
Your seat can be filled tomorrow.
 
But the impact you made?
 
The team you backed in the middle of a pivot.
The person you mentored when no one was watching.
The calm you brought when pressure spiked and everyone looked to you.
 
That doesn't disappear with a new org chart.
 
Title-chasers struggle when change comes fast.
 
But the ones who stay flexible, stay learning, stay useful
especially in the messy middle?
 
They rise.
Even if their email signature never changes.
 
So how do you build impact that outlives any title?
 
Three ways I've seen work:
 
1/ Focus on what you changed, not what you held
"Redesigned a process that saved 40 hours" lands harder than
"Led the operations team."
 
2/ Keep receipts on what shifted
Did morale lift?
Did someone step up?
Did performance turn around?
 
Capture the before, the after, and your role in that story.
 
3/ Ask this in your next 1:1
"What's one thing that improved because we worked together?"
 
Listen.
Then write it down.
 
It's simple.
And it's how quiet leaders stop being invisible.
 
The difference between being remembered and being replaced?
 
Not louder leadership.
But lasting impact.
 
Because titles don't define leadership.
The people you helped do.
 
👉 If you’re building your career from the middle
and you want that impact to compound,
DM me "MIDDLE".

I respect finger-pointers.

They remind me exactly how I choose to lead my teams.
 
The worst kind?
The ones who hide it behind cheap shots, thinking no one sees it.
 
But the ones doing the actual work?
They see everything.
 
They know how hard you've worked to become the leader you are.
 
So your instinct kicks in fast:
Protect what you've built.
Protect your people.
 
It exposes the finger-pointer.
They backpedal.
"I didn't mean it like that."
"Yes. You did."
 
You meant to undermine.
You meant to shift blame.
You're in a role built by others, just coasting in the title.
 
But your weak leadership won't hurt them.
It'll only make them stronger.
It'll spotlight the real ones.
 
The ones who get pulled aside after and hear:
"Thanks for stepping in when it mattered."
"Thanks for having our back."
 
Because titles don't make leaders.
 
The team decides who they follow.
 
♻️ Repost if you believe leadership is earned in moments like these.

If there's one piece of advice I'd give
to every mid-manager trying to move up,
It's not confidence.
It's not visibility.
It's not speaking louder in meetings.
 
It's this:
 
Deliver on your promises.
Then do it again.
 
I've watched incredibly capable managers stall
because their leadership was built on
things that don't hold under pressure:
 
Good intentions
Long hours
Verbal commitments
"Everyone knows I'll handle it"
 
That's not trust.
 
That's hope.
 
And hope doesn't get you promoted.
 
Senior leadership is built on something far more basic
and far more demanding:
 
Doing exactly what you said you would do.
When you said you would do it.
The way you said you would do it.
 
And owning it when you don't.
 
This isn't one of those recycled speeches
about "working harder" or "going the extra mile".
 
This is about becoming reliable at a level
other people can build on.
 
Because once you lead people,
every promise becomes relational.
 
A promise to your team
that you'll remove obstacles.
 
A promise to your client
that you'll deliver clarity, not excuses.
 
A promise to your execs
that they don't need to chase you for answers.
 
That's where trust is earned.
 
And trust does something most people underestimate:
 
It steadies you.
 
It frees mental space because you know you delivered.
It gives you credit to draw from when things go wrong.
It lets you acknowledge wins quietly
and survive the inevitable hard seasons.
 
The leaders who advance fastest
are the ones whose word holds.
 
They understand the separation:
 
Intent from impact.
Effort from outcome.
Potential from proof.
 
You don't get promoted for what you meant to do.
You get promoted for what others can rely on you to finish.
 
Trust isn't declared.
But accumulated.
 
Quietly.
Consistently.
Over time.
 
And once you have it,
you don't need to convince people you're ready.
 
They already know.
 
📍 DM me "MIDDLE" if you want your reliability to translate into promotion.

I don't believe in perfect roles.
 
I believe in growing into leadership.
 
At senior levels, leadership isn't about doing more things well.
It's about deciding what matters, what scales, and what can break without you.
 
5 Signs You're Preparing for Senior Leadership:
 
1/ You think beyond your job description.
↳ You focus on cross-functional impact and business leverage, not just role-based execution.
 
2/ You create space for strategic thinking.
↳ You ask which problems are worth solving, and which ones should be left alone.
 
3/ You use feedback as a system, not a mirror.
↳ You seek input to improve decisions, reduce friction, and increase learning speed across teams.
 
4/ You mentor with succession in mind.
↳ You grow people so the work moves forward without you being the bottleneck, and you stay coachable yourself.
 
5/ You act like an owner.
↳ You make trade-offs, absorb risk, and protect the business from unnecessary noise, not just solve visible problems.
 
When pursuing your next role, don't just optimize for scope or title.
Optimize for the leader you're becoming.
 
If you're ready to move from mid-level to senior leadership but don't know how to position yourself,
I'll show you how, schedule a free strategy session right now.
 
Which of these are you already practicing, and which one are you avoiding right now? 👇🏼

A lot of mid-level managers say they want to grow.
What they often mean is:
 
They want senior roles without making the shifts that earn them.
 
They stay buried in execution.
They keep ownership instead of building capability.
They confuse doing more with leading better.
 
When you hold onto tasks that no longer stretch you,
You block the people you should be developing.
You slow your own path upward.
You signal you're not ready to scale impact.
 
The fast-track to senior roles isn't about tenure.
 
(It's not even about performance metrics alone.)
 
It's about mindset, leverage, and leadership capacity.
 
In practice, that looks like this:
 
1/ Delegate to develop
Stop hoarding work. Start giving away real responsibility. Capability grows when people are trusted with stakes and support.
 
2/ Teach what you know
You move up by transferring knowledge faster. Teach your team how to think, not just what to do.
 
3/ Protect time for thinking
Execution is loud. Strategy is quiet. Make space for reflection, synthesis, and forward planning.
 
4/ Build your replacements
The clearest signal you're ready for more? That someone beneath you is ready for your seat. Build them intentionally.
 
5/ Let go to level up
Leaders don't get promoted for doing it all. They move forward because they know what to stop doing.
 
The people who rise aren't the busiest.
 
But the ones who create scale: in thinking, systems, and people.
 
Drop the tasks. Build the team. Step into the next level.
 
That's the difference.
 
Let go and level up.
 
📍 DM me "LEVEL UP" if you're ready to move past the middle and lead at the next level.

Welcome to Moodlandia.
Inhabitants: every middle manager holding it together with coffee 
and passive-aggressive calendar invites.
 
You know that moment when you're smiling in a meeting but internally screaming?
 
When you're praised for being calm under pressure but it's only because your soul left your body?
 
When you're trying to lead like an adult but a Slack message derails your entire worldview?
 
That's not dysfunction.
That's the standard entry fee to Moodlandia.
 
I used to think staying level-headed meant I was suppressing the real me.
 
Now I know: being in a good mood on purpose is a leadership skill.
 
Not toxic positivity.
Not fake pep-talks.
But mastering the ability to respond instead of react.
 
Because the managers who spiral every time chaos walks in?
 
They become the chaos.
 
But you? You're already earning your Moodlandia passport:
 
→ Smiling while rescheduling the same meeting for the 4th time
→ Staying neutral during your team's "friendly disagreement" at 9am
→ Letting go of the email that made you clench your jaw
→ Not using sarcasm as a weapon in the all-hands
 
Every great manager I know hit a fork in the road:
 
Be the thermostat. Or be the thermometer.
 
The difference?
One sets the tone. The other reflects the drama.
 
At some point, you stop being managed by the mood of the moment.
 
You decide: I will not be emotionally kidnapped today.
 
So many promising managers burn out because they try to fix everything and feel everything.
 
So many teams carry stress because no one’s modeling calm.
 
So many leaders stay stuck in survival mode.
 
You can't hack Moodlandia.
You can't outsource it.
You build it, mood by mood, mess by mess.
 
And when you arrive?
 
You realize the goal was never to feel amazing all the time.
 
It was to stop giving your power away to every annoying Slack ping.
 
The view here?
Still full of problems.
But your peace doesn't vanish every time one shows up.
 
Your move.
 
♻️ Repost if someone needs this as their Tuesday mantra
❓ What's your #1 mood-derailer right now and how do you handle it?

Stop entering new roles like you have something to prove.
 
Most mid-managers make the same mistake:
They arrive fast.
They speak first.
They change everything before understanding anything.
 
They think speed = strength.
But teams don-t want strength.
They want safety.
 
When you rush to prove yourself:
→ You signal that everything before you was wrong
→ You make people defend the very work you-re meant to improve
→ You build resistance, not trust
→ You win authority but lose influence
 
What actually works:
→ Slow down, even if it feels weak
→ Listen, even if you already have answers
→ Understand the current system before replacing it
→ Make one change at a time, not ten
 
Trust isn't earned by being impressive.
It's earned by being consistent.
And respectful.
And boring, honestly.
 
You don't need to outshine the person before you.
You need to make your team feel seen.
 
That's how you lead.
Not with urgency, but with humility.
 
And yes, that's slower.
But it's how real leadership sticks.
 
👉 Who are you trying to impress: your team, or your ego?
Subscribe to learn more: https://lnkd.in/d3hCJ_iM

Mid-level leaders grow when they do three things consistently:
Think bigger. Speak clearer. Own more.
 
It's not about tenure or titles.
It's about how you show up every day.
 
Ask yourself these three questions without skipping:
 
1/ Am I thinking like a strategist?
↳ Not just tasks and timelines, but business outcomes.
↳ Do I connect my team's work to the company's goals?
 
2/ Am I communicating like a leader?
↳ Not just updates, but insight that moves things forward.
↳ Do I simplify the complex and make decisions easier?
 
3/ Am I leading like an owner?
↳ Not just managing, but stepping into accountability.
↳ Do I take initiative, offer solutions, and own the result?
 
Three questions.
That's all it takes to shift how you lead.
 
Because here's what happens when you don't ask:
 
- You become the go-to for execution, but not for decisions
- Your updates get heard, but your ideas don't get actioned
- You're told to "keep doing great work", but not considered for more
 
And here's what the rising leaders figure out early:
 
✅ If you don't connect the dots, no one sees your strategic value
✅ If you can't simplify the problem, you won't influence the solution
✅ If you only own what’s assigned, you'll never be trusted with more
 
Start now.
Ask those 3 questions.
Start leading like you're already there.
 
💜 Like if you're committed to leading at the next level
📤 Share with a mid-level leader ready to grow into more

The snow in January.
We hope for it all December.
Only to complain the second it arrives.
 
We wanted it for the holidays.
For the magic. For the feeling.
But when it finally falls,
We're caught unprepared.
 
It's too cold.
Too messy.
Too hard to walk through.
Too inconvenient for the life we've built without it.
 
Leadership is the same.
 
We long for it for months, even years.
The title.
The team.
The opportunity to shape the future.
 
But when it comes, many forget why they wanted it in the first place.
 
It stops being about the people.
And starts being about the prestige.
 
We get so focused on surviving the storm,
We forget we prayed for the snow.
 
Let me remind you:
 
Leadership isn't the status you achieve.
It's the standard you uphold.
Especially when it's uncomfortable.
Especially when it's messy.
Especially when the shine wears off.
 
Still want the snow?
 
Then show up when it sticks.
 
✅ Like if this shifted your perspective
📤 Share with a leader who's lost sight of the reason
☑️ Follow for real talk on what leadership actually looks like

Writing on LinkedIn is still my favorite part of the job.
 
Not because it builds a following.
But because it pre-frames how people read my decisions.
 
Before a meeting.
Before a pitch.
Before a role even exists.
 
The senior leaders who reach out don't come for writing tips.
They come because something already shifted.
 
Their judgment is clearer.
Their thinking is easier to place.
Their name starts to travel without them being in the room.
 
Most never commented.
They just read long enough to notice this:
 
Visibility isn't noise.
It's signal.
 
If you don't shape the signal, the system will do it for you.
Usually based on outdated roles, old wins, or other people's interpretations.
 
That's why I keep writing.
Not for attention.
For leaders who want to stay legible as their scope expands.
 
If your role is growing faster than how you're perceived,
this is where you regain narrative control:
 
https://lnkd.in/d3hCJ_iM
 
♻️ Repost if you've ever realized too late that others had already decided who you were.

The word I used to avoid?
 
Unexpected.
 
As a delivery manager, I built my days around planning, structure, and control.
 
Unexpected meant risk.
Unexpected meant failure.
Unexpected meant I didn't plan well enough.
 
I used to think:
My job is to anticipate everything before it happens.
 
But over time, that shifted.
 
I started to see the unexpected as something else:
Not something to avoid, but something to grow through.
 
Because when a project went sideways,
when a stakeholder changed their mind,
when things didn't follow the plan,
 
That's when I learned the most.
That's when people started noticing.
That's when I stepped forward, not just managed.
 
Now I see "unexpected" as a signal:
That this is a moment to stretch.
That this is a chance to speak up.
That this is where differentiation starts.
 
Not just in how you lead others,
But in how you grow yourself.
 
It's a shift more mid-level managers need:
Less head-down execution.
More career-level awareness.
 
Take the uncertain assignment.
Go meet that stakeholder in person.
Tell the story others skip: the one with some failure in it.
Let people see what's real, not just what's polished.
 
Because your edge won't come from doing what everyone else does.
 
It will come from what only you have experienced
and how you choose to share it.
 
If you're always waiting for the perfect plan,
You'll miss the growth that happens when you don't have one.
 
Subscribe to Leadership Bits & Pieces for short reflections on growth through the unexpected:
https://lnkd.in/d3hCJ_iM

Most mid-managers answer "what do you do?" like this:
 
"I lead a team."
"I manage operations."
"I wear too many hats."
 
Here’s what I say instead:
 
"I help mid-level managers stop being human sandbags for broken systems."
 
Because here’s the truth:
→ You weren’t hired to chase updates
→ You weren’t meant to translate vague strategy
→ You weren’t trained to fix upstream chaos
 
But that’s where you spend 70% of your time.
 
So what do I do?
 
→ I help mid-managers clarify priorities
→ Create workflows that make sense
→ Communicate up, down, and across with confidence
 
Instead of feeling stuck in the middle, you become the one who runs the middle.
 
Thanks to Ambassador Terry Earthwind Nichols for giving me space to share this. Hope you will enjoy the conversation as much as I did!

Vision & Business Strategist | Father of RBCR® | I help Thought Leaders neutralize the Amnesic Memory driving Self-Sabotage & Imposter Syndrome in one easy step | Award-Winning Profiler

View Ambassador Terry Earthwind Nichols’ profile

Episode 238 What is a "Stall Zone" you may ask? Well...


Marija Stevanovic What are you doing?

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