Noemi Kis✨

Founder, CEO

Serial Entrepreneur / AI enthusiast / TEDx speaker

Hey there! 👋

I'm obsessed with helping non-techie founders like you build lean, profitable businesses (think team of 5 or less) using AI, smart automations, and social media that actually converts.

I built my seven-figure business with a small team and grew to 145K followers on LinkedIn plus 5K newsletter subscribers. Not by accident, but by figuring out what actually works.

Tomorrow's successful founders won't be grinding 80-hour weeks. They'll be the ones who learn to build with AI, automate the boring stuff, and find their people in the right corners of the internet.

That's what I share in my weekly newsletter "Entrepreneurial Mindset" - mindset, AI stuff, automation hacks, and the strategies that are working right now (not the stuff everyone else is talking about).

Join here: www.noemikis.com/newsletter

Brands & sponsorship inquiries: hello@noemikis.com

AquaQuote is a global digital marketplace for buying and selling industrial water treatment products in the aftermarket space.  Brands have an opportunity to digitize their catalog and offer their products to a wider audience, while end users can easily find and purchase products via a self-service dashboard.  We focus on fast and excellent customer service and sourcing products from the best suppliers with the shortest lead times. 

The fastest way to kill your career:

Act like you already know everything.

Top performers don’t do that.

They treat every interaction like a chance to level up.

They’re not afraid to be wrong, they WANT to be wrong.

Because every mistake is a shortcut to growth.

Here's what that actually looks like:

1/ Ask better questions:

→ Replace "I know" with "tell me more"
→ Collect perspectives like they're currency
→ Make every conversation a learning opportunity

2/ Document your failures:

→ Write what you thought vs. what was true
→ Review it monthly to spot your patterns
→ Turn mistakes into a personal playbook

3/ Seek uncomfortable feedback:

→ Ask someone: "What could I do better?"
→ Shut up, listen, and don't get defensive
→ Apply at least one piece within 48 hours

The people who rise fastest aren't the smartest in the room.

They're the ones humble enough to realize they're never done learning.

So if you're building something right now, ask yourself:

When's the last time you changed your mind about something important?

Because staying the same is comfortable.

But growth requires you to be wrong first.

And then be humble enough to learn how to get it right.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network! ♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

Microbusiness Ideas / AI enthusiast / TEDx speaker

If they can't afford your value,

It’s not your job to give them a discount.

And I'm not talking about business.

I'm talking about life.

For years, I made myself smaller so others would feel comfortable.

→ Dimmed my wins so friends wouldn't feel bad
→ Downplayed my boundaries so people would stay
→ Apologized for taking up space

I thought that's what good people did.

Make everyone else feel okay, even if it cost me.

But after being burned multiple times by this mindset, here's what I've learned:

The right people don't need you to shrink.

They don't ask you to:

→ Be less ambitious so they feel better
→ Lower your standards so they can keep up
→ Discount your worth so they can afford you

Because real relationships aren't built on you being less.

They're built on mutual respect.

And to be honest, this shift changed everything for me.

I stopped explaining my choices.
I stopped justifying my boundaries.
I stopped making myself "easier" to love.

Because I realized:

If someone can't meet you where you are, that's information.

It's not your job to:

→ Convince them you're worth it
→ Prove your value over and over
→ Make yourself "affordable" emotionally

The people who belong in your life will rise to meet you.

They won't ask you to dim your light.

They'll bring sunglasses.

So if you're someone who's been shrinking...

Here's your permission to stop:

You don't owe anyone a smaller version of yourself.

Not your family.
Not your friends.
Not your partner.

Your only job is to be fully you.

And let the right people find you there.

The most underrated skill I’ve learned? 

Observing without judging.

Most of us walk through life with instant opinions about everything.

Someone's business model. Their choices. Their timeline.

We see 5% of the picture and form 100% of our conclusion.

I used to be the same until a mentor said to me:

“Judgment closes doors. Observation opens them.”

When you judge, you decide:

→ This is right or wrong
→ This will or won't work
→ They should or shouldn't do that

When you observe, you notice:

→ What's actually happening
→ What patterns are emerging
→ What you might be missing

There's a massive difference.

Judgment feels certain. Observation stays curious.

And to be honest, our need to judge comes from fear.

→ Fear of being wrong
→ Fear of looking naive
→ Fear of not having an opinion

We think strong opinions make us look smart.

But some of the smartest people I know are ones who say "I don't know yet" and mean it.

They watch longer.
They ask more questions.
They change their minds when new information comes in.

That is what true intelligence looks like in action.

So if you catch yourself rushing to judgment today...

Pause.

Watch for 10 more seconds.
Ask one more question.
Consider what you might be missing.

Because the world reveals itself to those who observe.

Not to those who already decided what they're looking at.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network! ♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

My biggest fear used to be failing.

Now it's dying with my best work still inside me.

I spent most of my 20s procrastinating and “playing it safe.”

I had ideas I didn't launch.
Projects I didn't start.
Things I wanted to say but kept quiet.

I was always waiting for:

→ More experience
→ Better timing
→ Proof it would work

Then 10 years ago, something happened that changed everything.

I was sitting in an airport with my dad, waiting for our flight home.

And I just... broke down.

My dad looked at me with concern: "Are you okay?"

And that's when it all came out.

"I don't want to go back," I said through tears. "I have nothing to go back for."

The truth was:

I'd been sitting on a business idea for 2 years.
I had a plan written out in a notebook I kept hidden.
I knew exactly what I wanted to build.

But I was too scared to start.

→ What if I failed?
→ What if people thought I was naive?
→ What if I wasted money and embarrassed myself?

So I stayed in a job I hated, telling myself I'd start "when I was ready."

My dad didn't say much that day.

But later, on the plane, I asked myself one question:
"What's the worst that could happen if I tried?"

I listed everything:

Losing money. Looking stupid. Failing publicly.

Then I asked: "And what's the worst that happens if I don't?"

I couldn't answer. Because I already knew.

I'd spend the rest of my life wondering "what if."

That airport conversation became my wake-up call.

6 months later, I gave myself an ultimatum: When my contract ended, I would never get another job.

I had 6 months to build something of my own.

And here's what I realized: The things I was afraid of were all temporary.

→ Failing? You recover.
→ Looking stupid? People forget.
→ Losing money? You earn it back.

But dying with your best work still inside you 
That's permanent.

In 100 years, no one will remember if I failed.
But I would've known if I never tried.

So I stopped waiting for permission, confidence, or the "right time."

I started building.

10 years later, I've failed more times than I can count.

But I've never cried in an airport again, paralyzed by my own fear.

Because I finally understood:

In 100 years, everyone you know will be gone.

So go do the thing you're afraid of.

Because one day you'll run out of time to try.

One of the hardest truth to accept:

You can't grow new leaves while holding onto dead ones.

But we try anyway.

We hold onto the job that stopped fulfilling us years ago.

The relationship that's been over in every way except officially.

The version of ourselves we've outgrown but can't seem to let go of.

And we wonder why nothing new is growing.

I came across this quote in a book the other day and it stuck with me.

Because trees are perhaps the best teachers of letting go.

Every fall, they shed everything they spent months building.

They stand there, bare and exposed, through the coldest months of the year.

And they don't panic about whether they'll grow again.

They just trust the process.

We've lost that trust somewhere along the way.

We think holding on means we're strong. That letting go means we've failed.

So we grip tighter to things that are already gone.

And then we're surprised when nothing new can take root.

But here’s something I’ve learnt over the years:

Letting go isn't loss. It's just preparation.

You can't build the next chapter while you're still clinging to the last one.
You can't become who you're meant to be while holding onto who you were.

So if you're in a season right now where everything feels like it's falling apart...

Maybe it's not falling apart.
Maybe it's just falling away.

Making room for what's trying to grow next.

Let go of the dead leaves.

Because better days don't come by holding onto what's dead.

They come when you finally let go.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network!♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

The only person who can save you?

The version of yourself who's had enough.

Here's what I’ve seen most people do when they're stuck:

→ Wait for the right moment 
→ Hope for better conditions 
→ Pray someone notices their struggle

And nothing changes.

Because change doesn't come from hope. It comes from hitting your limit.

That moment when you look at your life and think: "I'm done living like this."

Not tomorrow. Not next month. Not when things settle down. Right now.

That's the version of yourself that saves you.

The one who's tired of:

→ The same excuses 
→ The same patterns 
→ The same results

And decides to do something different.

I was in a similar position 10 years ago. Here’s exactly how I flipped my life around:

1. Audit your daily patterns

Write down everything you do for 3 days.

Then ask: "Is this moving me forward or keeping me stuck?"

Most people are shocked by how much time they waste waiting for change instead of creating it.

2. Identify your non-negotiables

Pick 3 things you'll do every day, no matter what.

→ One for your body 
→ One for your skill 
→ One for your goals 

Make them so small you can't fail. Then do them until they're automatic.

3. Eliminate one drain

Find the biggest energy drain in your life right now.

The toxic relationship. 
The time-wasting habit. 
The commitment that serves nothing.

Cut it. Not gradually. Not "when the time is right." This week.

4. Create proof

Do one thing today that proves you're serious.

Send the email you've been avoiding. 
Post the content you're scared to share. 
Make the call that terrifies you.

Most of the successful people I know have figured this out:

You need to stop looking around for someone to save you.

The hero you're waiting for is the version of you that's done making excuses.

Wake them up.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network! ♻️

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

Every idea has three audiences.

And only one of them ends up successful.

When you start building something, you'll notice three groups form around you.

1. The critics show up first.

They'll point out every flaw, every risk, every reason it won't work.

"That's been done before."
"The timing isn't right."
"You should really think this through."

They sound experienced. They sound smart.
But they're not building anything themselves.

2. Then come the talkers.

They love your idea. They're genuinely excited about it.

"This is great, we should collaborate."
"I've been thinking about something similar."
"Let me know how it goes."

And they mean it in the moment. But weeks pass. Months pass. And nothing actually happens.

3. The doers are different.

They're the smallest group, but they're the ones who matter. They don't just cheer you on from the sidelines. They actually move.

→ They test what you're building
→ They give you honest feedback
→ They share it without being asked

And here's what I've learned:

You can't convert critics into doers.
You can't turn talkers into builders.

The energy you spend trying to convince skeptics or waiting for "interested" people to follow through is energy wasted.

The only strategy that works is finding the doers early and building with them.

Because critics will always find something to criticize. Talkers will always have another conversation.

But doers help you win.

They become your first customers, your biggest advocates, your real supporters.

So if you're building something right now, pay attention to who's actually doing something with what you're creating.

Not who's watching.
Not who's talking about watching.
Who's doing.

That's your real audience.

And honestly, that's the only audience that matters.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network!♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

You've spent 3 months planning.

Successful people spent 20 minutes building.

Action creates clarity. Planning creates comfort.

They research. They plan. They wait for the "right time."

→ The book that's been "planned" for 3 years
→ The perfect website no customer has seen
→ The post waiting to feel "ready enough"

It feels like progress. But it's just procrastination.

And there’s something I’ve learnt after 15 yrs in business:

Thinking about doing something for 20 hours teaches you nothing.

Doing it for 20 minutes teaches you everything.

Because action creates clarity.

→ You learn what actually works
→ You see what people really want
→ You discover the problems you can’t see

The overthinking phase feels safe. No one can criticize what doesn't exist yet.

But safety isn't the goal. Progress is. And progress only happens when you move.

Here's what 20 minutes with Gamma can actually do:

→ Turn that business idea into a pitch deck
→ Transform that blog post into a visual story
→ Create that client proposal you've been "getting to" for 2 weeks

Because the people who win aren't the ones with the best plans.

They're the ones that started before they felt ready.

So if you've been stuck in the planning phase...

What would happen if you gave yourself 20 minutes?

Just 20 minutes to start the thing you've been overthinking.

Not to finish it. Not to perfect it. Just to begin.

Because the gap between thinking and doing?

That's where dreams go to die.

Close the gap.

Try Gamma. Give yourself 20 minutes.

Watch how it’s done: https://lnkd.in/gSWbh-vx

See what you can build when you stop planning and start doing.

Brand partnership • Microbusiness Ideas / AI enthusiast / TEDx speaker

You're asking for directions from people who are lost themselves.

And wondering why you keep ending up in the same place.

Here's the pattern most people fall into:

→ They want to start a business, so they ask their 9-5 friends

→ They want to scale, so they ask people stuck at $100K

→ They want freedom, so they ask the burned-out "successful" ones

The advice sounds good. It feels safe. But it's coming from someone who's never been where you're trying to go.

They'll tell you to:

→ "Get a steady job first"
→ "Wait until you're more experienced"
→ "Don't take that risk"

Because it's all they know.

I made the same mistake for years and stayed stuck in a job I hated.

That’s when I learned the truth about advice:

– Most people give advice based on their fears, not your potential
– Good intentions don't equal good guidance
– The loudest voices are often from people who never tried


You can't get to $1M by asking someone who's never made it past $100K.

You can't build freedom by listening to people who work 80-hour weeks.

You can't create something new by following people stuck in the old.

So before you take anyone's advice, ask yourself:

Have they actually done what I'm trying to do?

Not talked about it. Not theorized about it. Actually done it.

Because the best directions come from people who've already made the journey.

Everyone else is just guessing.

And you don't build your dreams on someone else's guesses.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network! ♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

I used to have a goal to hit $10M revenue.

Then I deleted it.

For years, that number lived in my business plan, my pitch decks, my annual reviews.

The number that would finally prove:

→ I'd made it
→ I was a real CEO
→ I belonged in the rooms I was in

But here's what nobody tells you about chasing revenue targets:

The goalpost keeps moving.

Hit $1M? Now you need $5M.
Hit $5M? Now you need $10M.
Hit $10M? Now you need to be a unicorn.

It never ends. And to be honest, I was exhausted.

I was making decisions I didn't believe in, all for a number that someone else decided mattered.

In 2021, I sat down and asked myself a different question:

"What do I actually want my life to look like?"

Not my revenue. Not my team size.

My actual life.

The answer was simple:

→ Wake up without anxiety
→ Take weekends completely off
→ Fund new projects without outside money
→ Never miss my family’s important events
→ Build things I'm proud of, not things that scale

And surprisingly, none of that required $10M.

It required less, really good margins, and a business model I loved.

So I deleted the revenue goal.

And I replaced it with this:

– Does this decision give me more freedom or less?
– Does this opportunity energize me or drain me?
– Will I regret saying yes to this in 6 months?

Today, I don’t make $10M but I have:

→ Profit margins that fund my passion projects
→ A small team that I can trust fully
→ Time to think, create, and actually live

So if you're killing yourself for a number that someone else told you matters...

Ask yourself: What am I actually building toward?

Because maybe the goal isn't bigger.
Maybe the goal is better.

Found this valuable? Please reshare with your network! ♻️ 

And follow Noemi Kis✨ for daily growth tips!

Most people spend 3 hours making presentations that no one remembers.

I spend 5 minutes.

Because I automated the boring part.

Here's the thing about getting ahead in your career:

It's not about working harder. It's about creating unfair advantages.

And I found the best one:

You’re drowning in post-meeting work. Every Zoom call meant hours of:

→ Transcribing key points
→ Creating presentation decks
→ Formatting everything perfectly
→ Sending follow-ups that proved I was "on it"

Then I discovered the highest-leverage automation:

I connected two simple tools with Zapier:

Zapier - the automation platform that connects everything
Gamma - creates beautiful presentations instantly
Zoom - where all my important conversations are stored

Here's why this combination is genius:

The best insights already exist.

- Your brilliant strategy discussion.
- Your client's feedback.
- Your team's decisions.

All trapped in meeting recordings.

But when you connect where data lives to where it needs to be, magic happens.

Now after every important call:

→ Zapier automatically detects my Zoom recording
→ Sends it to Gamma
→ Gamma analyzes the entire conversation
→ Creates a professional deck with key insights

5 minutes. Zero manual work.

What this actually means for your career:

- You can present complex things simply
- You follow up after every meeting
- You show up like an executive leader

While everyone else is still formatting slides, you're already thinking three moves ahead.

That's how you create opportunities.

You can find it at https://lnkd.in/g_AgBGhA

#zapierpartner #gammapartner

Most startup advice is for 22-year-olds who can code.

I'm 40. I run a 7 fig business serving clients like SpaceX and P&G.  

In a tiny niche for water filtration.

5 hours a week. 3 people. 

Let me show you how a microbusiness works:

Let’s take a traditional business: A pet store

Profitable one-person niches for pets:

→ Travel kits for RV pets ($7K/month)
→ Anxiety gear for rescue dogs ($6K/month)
→ Joint supplements for senior bulldogs ($10K/month)
→ Booking systems for mobile dog groomers ($3K/month)

Each one can be built by non-technical founders using AI tools.

Go so specific that customers think "this was made FOR ME."

Here’s are the options:

→ Freelancer: Income ceiling = hours
→ SaaS & startups: Fast growth, scale, exit.
→ Corporate: Security dependent on the job market.
→ Small business: Employees, overhead, broad market.

This is how I define a microbusiness:

- One person or small team
- $50K-$1M annual revenue
- 10-40 hours/week
- Uses AI + no-code tools
- You specialize

Just a profitable business you own.

This works today but didn’t 5 years ago, because you can:

- Run a business on $100/mo tools
- Build with no code AI and automate
- Find customers in online niche groups

I spent 20 hours documenting 5,000 of these ideas.

Filtered for: profitable, one-person, solvable with AI, serving customers who actually pay.

What’s stopping you isn’t the idea: It’s this:

→ Which niche should I pick?
→ I can't code" (Claude/Cursor/Replit can)
→ I'm already working 50 hours
→ Sounds too good to be true (Fair - that's why I'm showing you my actual business)

You solve a problem so specific that clients gladly pay 10x for someone who finally understands.

That's why I am launching a newsletter:

Every week you’ll get:

→ One ready-to-launch microbusiness (built with Cursor/Zapier)
→ The exact customer niches to target
→ Week 1 execution plan (DM scripts, landing page copy)

Not a course. Not "learn to code."

Just: here's the idea, the AI template setup, here's who to sell: now go.

Want the 5,000 profitable niches right now? It’s free when you join my newsletter.  

Get it here: https://lnkd.in/g4BK_8n9

This is how you build career insurance and freedom.

Share this to your network ♻️

P.S. Comment "niche" below, or repost and I'll DM you a bonus, the entire database inside a custom GPT. (have to be connected)

Last week, it took me 3 hours to screen 231 resumes.

Today it took 30 seconds per resume.

Most founders I know are drowning in resumes.

So I built a Zapier Agent that evaluates resumes instantly from my browser.

I tested it on a pile of resumes yesterday.

The agent caught things I would've missed:
- A developer with the exact stack we use (buried on page 2)
- Red flags in employment gaps I glossed over
- Pattern matching across similar successful hires

But here's my favorite part:

It doesn't just say yes or no.

It explains WHY.

"Strong candidate - has 3 years in our exact tech stack, shows progression in responsibilities, and their side project demonstrates self-learning."

Or:

"Pass - lacks hands-on experience despite certifications, no evidence of building real products."

This is NOT about replacing human judgment.

It's about getting to human judgment faster.

This is how modern founders should hire.

Not by reading 200 generic resumes.

But by building agents that instantly surface the right people.

Curious to try it out? Try Zapier agents here: https://lnkd.in/gQwBEtTy

#ZapierPartner

Scot Chisholm & Co. 

Every week I tackle management, operations & startup topics that are helping 100,000+ people become better leaders.

Scot’s Newsletter

Highland

Highland is a “school” & community for founders. If you're a founder/CEO, we should talk!

Founder & Chief Professor

Tall Timbers Holding Co.

A family office and holding company with wholly owned businesses, private investments, and property holdings.

Managing Director & Founder

GoFundMe

After the merger of Classy and GoFundMe, I’ve taken on a strategic advisory role to the CEO & executive team, mainly focused on longer-range product strategy and M&A

Strategic Advisor, GoFundMe & Classy

Classy

Founder & Strategic Advisor (Acq. by GoFundMe, 2022)

Founder & Chairman

Classy is a SaaS giving platform that powers the fundraising of over 10,000 nonprofit organizations. Classy is a certified B-Corp, has a team of 300+ people and has raised over $5 billion for social good since 2011.

CEO & Founder

In Classy’s earliest days, we hosted large scale fundraising events with the goal of connecting millennials with local nonprofits in the San Diego area.

CEO & Founder (pre tech company)

Haskill Creek

Haskill Creek is a new type of self-care store. Imagine a healthier & more holistic version of a Walgreens or CVS. Family owned business.

Co-Founder

ALBION SC

Albion Soccer Club is one of the top youth soccer franchises in the United States with over 10,000 players and hundreds of teams across the country.

Co-Owner

Save Farmland

Save Farmland is a nonprofit organization with a mission to protect and promote small farms in Flathead Valley, Montana, and beyond.

Abundant Montana

Board Member

AERO Montana

Abundant Montana (a program of Aero), makes it easy for anyone to find and choose local food in Montana.

Advisory Board

CEO, Highland & Haskill Creek • Founder of Classy (acq. by GoFundMe) • Founder of nonprofit, Save Farmland

Multi-time founder but operator at heart. 

Industrial engineer and lean six sigma nerd by training. 

Now I write about management, operations & startup topics that are helping 200,000+ people become better leaders.

scotchisholm.com/newsletter


MY BACKGROUND ————— 

🚀 Founder of Classy, a SaaS platform for 10k+ nonprofits raising billions per year. 

🎗️Acquired by GoFundMe in ‘22 to create the largest giving platform in the world. Together we’ve raised over $30 billion for individual & nonprofit causes. 

🏔️ Founder of Highland, a private community & leadership “school” for high-potential founders. 

🏡 Co-founder of Haskill Creek, a much healthier version of a Walgreens or CVS. 

🧑🏼‍🌾 Founder of Save Farmland, a nonprofit protecting local farmland. 

⚽️ Co-owner of Albion Soccer Club, top youth soccer club in country

❤️ Board experience: Nature Conservancy, Abundant Montana, Team Rubicon, Street Soccer USA, Montana Pediatric Cancer Foundation 


👇 WAYS TO CONNECT —————

→ Podcast / speaking oppty? email: partner@scotchisholm.com

→ Join my free newsletter: https://scotchisholm.com/newsletter-linkedin-profile

→ Check out my private community for founders: www.joinhighland.com

Scot Chisholm

Sh*tty managers ruin lives. 
Great managers change them. 

I’ve managed hundreds of people over the last 20 years. 

One of my biggest takeaways is the massive difference between an average manager and a truly great one. 

But, here’s the truth:

No one starts out as a great manager (literally no one). 

And, becoming a great manager can be learned by anyone. 

Just focus on these 12 habits:

1/ Provide business context
2/ Set high standards
3/ Take full ownership
4/ Focus (then focus again)
5/ Create operating cohesion 
6/ Lead with data
7/ But be decisive 
8/ Let your team make decisions
9/ Don’t give sh*tty feedback
10/ Take feedback like an adult
11/ Listen more than you talk
12/ Always be learning

The gap in quality managers is large, but the right behaviors are simple. 

Focus on these 12 habits daily and you’ll be ahead of 99%. 

What habits resonated most?
Let me know in the comments 👇

⁂

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Operator & Investor • Founder of Classy (acq. by GoFundMe) • Building Highland, Just, Haskill Creek

12 insanely simple habits to become a high performing mana

Leadership is misunderstood.

Building Classy taught me that the best leaders aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest titles, or the ones who can charm a room.

Some of the best leaders in our 300+ person company were individual contributors at the very bottom of the org chart. Young managers. First-time team leads.

Over the years I started noticing what made these unlikely leaders so effective. They had traits that, quite honestly, my executives lacked at times. Including me.

Over time I boiled them down to 10 core traits that our best leaders always exhibited. It’s no surprise they rose fast within the company. Many are still there today, 15 years later.  

The very best leaders: 

• Clarify - Never assume everyone understands
• Believe - Push forward when everyone doubts
• Adapt - Evolve rapidly without ego
• Anticipate - Solve problems before they explode
• Persist - Get kicked in the teeth, get up anyway
• Empower - Create leaders, not followers
• Own - Own failures without excuses
• Hold the line - When quality dips and others compromise
• Always Learn - Learn and grow faster than the company
• Lead by Example - Live values when no one's watching

Most leaders start off strong in a few, but not all of these traits. You must intentionally develop them over time. It's a lifelong thing. 

But many executives forget this. Maybe they were great once. But they start slipping. They stop learning. They get cocky. I've seen this too many times. 

I don't care where you’re at in your career. Keep these traits in mind. And never stop developing them. 

⁂

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2. Hit that follow button.
3. Repost to your network.
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Top 10 traits of the very best leaders:

Every high performance culture starts with this… 

I recently asked a founder about his culture. And he started talking about free lunches and other perks. 

This is not culture. 

He was a coaching client of mine, so I nicely explained… 

Here's what real culture looks like: 
→ A shared purpose. Everyone understands and resonates with the 'Why'.

→ Excitement about the future. The vision is clear to all and it creates an almost kid-like excitement about the future.

→ Strong empathy and trust. Great orgs know if you neglect empathy, trust evaporates.

→ The correct level of accountability. People know you're building a championship team.

→ Mutual respect and encouragement. High performers have admiration for each other.

→ Hunger to learn and improve. Without being asked. That's the diet of champions.

→ Aligned financial incentives. Compensation that's aligned to the organization's top goals.

→ Career mobility. Lots of opportunity, with clear expectations around advancement.

→ Work-life balance. Clear boundaries that are enforced across the org.

→ Pride in the work. Numbers one through nine create an amazing sense of pride. You'll find yourself bragging about work to complete strangers.


When you get the culture right, people are excited to show up, employees self-manage, and retention is extremely high. 

And great business results naturally follow.

 ⁂

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10 signs of great culture.

Most people waste their leadership meetings. 

Do this instead: 

When I was building Classy I got this meeting wrong for years. We’d talk about everything BUT the important stuff. Too much time wasted on low-level “issues”. Too many tangents and distractions. Everyone left feeling:

• Confused
• Misaligned 
• Unaccountable

I talked to advisors and scoured the internet for help. But it took loads of trial and error to land on a meeting structure that actually worked. We stuck with it for nearly ten years. 

One of the major improvements was focus. Teams spend months setting goals only to let them collect dust. Your leadership meeting should be your #1 checkpoint for progress. 

Once we got “tight at the top” as a leadership team, everything started to change. More results, less talk. It became the tip of the spear of our entire operating rhythm.

To this day, I call it your most important meeting. If I only had one, it’d be the leadership meeting. 

The entire leadership team meeting structure is in the carousel. Copy it for your own company and let me know what you think. 

⁂

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How to nail your  leadership meeting every time:

This is the part of leadership no one prepares you for…

Going from IC to manager is hard.

But becoming a manager of managers is brutal. 

You’re no longer managing the work… you’re managing the people who manage the work.

Vanilla management advice no longer works. Instead, focus on these 7 things:

→ Provide clarity and context. If they don’t have context, they can’t give context. And their teams will be flying blind. Make sure your managers always know: Why are we here? Where are we going? How are we doing? Your job is to arm them with the information they need to lead.

→ Work through, not around. When someone skips your manager and comes to you with a problem, resist the urge to solve it on the spot. This robs your manager of the chance to learn and improve themselves. Listen. Ask questions. Then loop your manager in to address it. Build leverage through them, not around them.

→ Set a team rhythm. Establish a recurring cadence with your managers. Weekly or bi-weekly team meetings work best. Create a high-performance environment that focuses on progress against goals. But feels safe for the managers to help each other, unblock projects and always stay aligned.

→ Create additional checkpoints. Checkpoints ensure your managers stay on top of things. Your early warning system. 1x1s for coaching and calibration. Quarterly reviews for deep dives. Occasional skip-levels to stay connected. But don’t overdo your 1 on 1s. Great managers shouldn’t need tons of special attention.

→ Don’t do their job for them. When your manager is struggling, it’s tempting to pick up their slack. Don’t. They need to own the outcome fully. You can coach them, help connect the dots, resource things. But don’t do the work for them. They’ll never develop into a strong manager this way.

→ Create P2P accountability. Peer-to-peer accountability is stronger than top-down. Great managers don’t want to let their peers down. Review each other’s goals. Share progress openly. Set standards together. Your team helps you keep the bar up for everyone.

→ Avoid over trusting. It’s tempting to say: “They’re experienced, they’ll figure it out.” This is blind faith. When a manager is sending off smoke signals through any of the prior steps. Missing goal after goal. Showing up weak at checkpoints. With no correction on the horizon. It’s time to take action. Don’t trust forever. The buck still stops with you.

⁂ 

Putting it all together... 

How to manage managers: 

• Provide context
• Work through manager
• Set team rhythm
• Create checkpoints 
• Don't' do their job
• Create p2p accountability 
• Avoid over-trusting

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How to manage managers (even as a newbie)

Most people think goals fail because the team screwed up. 

They’re wrong. 

99% of goals fail because of poor leadership.

It doesn’t matter what framework you use…

→ OKRs
→ Rocks
→ SMART

If you’re sloppy with your approach, the company won’t hit its goals. 

That’s on you. 

I learned this the hard way, running a company with hundreds of people. 

Now I see it working with nearly 100 CEOs across all industries. 

Here are 7 non-negotiable rules that will make your goal-setting 10x better…

(regardless of your framework) 

⁂

Rule 1 –  
Focus (then focus again):

• Maximum three goals, period
• Goals aren't task lists
• Everything priority = nothing priority

Rule 2 – 
Always be measurable: 

• Three metrics maximum per goal
• Measure outcomes, not tasks
• "$1M ARR" beats "update deck"

Rule 3 – 
Challenging but realistic: 

• Impossible goals kill momentum
• Stretch without delusion
• No sandbagging, mutual accountability

Rule 4 – 
Never forget the ‘why’: 

• No context leaves team guessing
• Each goal deserves a 'why'
• 1-3 sentence rationale

Rule 5 – 
Track consistently:

• Break annual into monthly
• Weekly red/yellow/green updates
• Never leave dashboards stale

Rule 6 – 
Create accountability:

• Use leadership meeting
• Address every yellow or red
• 20% status, 80% solving

Rule 7 – 
Align incentives:

• Pay goals to comp
• Ignore the OKR purists
• Bonus plan is perfect for this

Does this resonate? 
What rules would you add?
Let me know in the comments 👇

 ⁂

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How to actually achieve your company goals in 2026

If there's one thing you do on Linkedin today... 

I'd be forever grateful if you'd consider applying, or sharing this role with someone you really respect. 

Christopher Himes & I started dreaming up this company about a year ago.  Now the dream has turned to reality. 

With a fresh round, a tiny team of insane talent, and a massive opportunity in front of us... 

We. are. ready. to. go!

Who wants to join us? 

p.s. We're not listing this company as "stealth" because that's dumb. But you'll learn way more about the market, opportunity and product when you apply. Trust me its badass. 

🔥

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