Senior Engineering Leader for Final Mile Services and E&T Development Program

I built a successful career in engineering and leadership.

On paper, it checked every box. Strong income. Respect. Stability.

Stability can become a cage when the money is good, but the question of purpose won’t go away.

That’s why I help engineering leaders make a purpose-led next move in their careers.

I bring 30 years of experience leading teams, navigating complexity, and making high-stakes decisions. Now I apply that same clarity and structure to the decision you can’t ignore forever, what you want your next season of impact to be.

My 3-Step Process

1) Purpose Clarity - We translate what matters most into plain language, so you can stop spinning and start choosing.

2) Next Move Focus - We narrow your options to the few paths that actually fit you, your strengths, values, and desired impact.

3) Execution Plan - We build a practical plan you can run while still employed, so your next move is intentional, not impulsive.

If you're a leader who knows you're made for more impact, I’ll help you get clear on your purpose in 90 days or less.

DM me “PURPOSE” and I’ll send you the first step.

Tarek Taha

18 years ago, my boss called me into his office.


He was the best boss I ever had.

I told him I'd received an offer from another company and was considering taking it.

He said, "How much are they paying you?"

I told him it was 40% more than my current comp.

Instead of getting mad, he said he would support whatever decision I made.

I shared how this job would allow me to achieve my financial goals more quickly.

Even though he would be sad to lose me, he knew I needed to do what was best for my family.

It's your job to advocate for yourself and do what's right for you.

Sometimes you have to take emotions out of it.

By the way, I decided to stay and am so glad I did.

My boss and I are still friends today!

Do what's best for you and your family.

Don't settle.

♻️ Repost if you've ever had a great boss and would like to honor them
🔔 Follow Tarek Taha for more.
--
👉 Join me for a free class tomorrow on why success feels empty and what to do about it: https://lnkd.in/e9CvvYdf

I help Successful VPs & Directors figure out What’s Next | DM me “PURPOSE” to join my masterclass

In December 2024, I watched a helicopter take my 87-year-old dad away to a heart center.


This man, who had been a picture of health all his life, had a ruptured aorta.

97% of people who experience this event die on the spot.
My dad didn’t.
He lived.

He recovered, and now, at 88, he walks 10 "very brisk" laps around his neighborhood each day.

His survival meant more time.

I've learned more about what he had to overcome in Egypt to build a life for himself and for our family.

We connected more deeply.

The real gift of more time with those you love is finally having conversations that matter.

[ 👉 Follow Tarek for more | ♻️ Repost if this resonated]

It became clear that staying was more expensive than leaving.


That realization didn’t come from burnout.
Or frustration.
Or a bad situation.

After 21 years at the same company, I walked away.

What surprised me most wasn’t the decision itself.

It was what happened as I was leaving.

The conversations I barely remembered.
The people I’d helped years ago who still use my advice.
The relationships that mattered far more than any title I ever held.

For most of my career, I measured impact the wrong way.

I thought it looked like ladder climbing.
Recognition from others.
Being needed.

It turns out, impact looks a lot more like people.

And sometimes, you don’t fully understand that until you step away.

If you’ve ever wondered what your work actually means to the people around you, you’ll recognize it.

Today at 12 PM EST, I'm going to talk about how every person on the planet has a purpose and what changes when you start pursuing it. 
[Link in comments]

I help Senior Leaders escape the hamster wheel and live with purpose | DM me “PURPOSE” to join my masterclass

You made VP by 35. 


Got the salary. Got the team. Got the respect. 

Then you sat in a meeting one day and realized: 
This is it. 
This is what I worked for.
 
And it feels hollow. 

You're not ungrateful.
You're not broken. 
You just feel out of alignment with who you actually are. 

Most people spend their whole career climbing the ladder.

Very few stop to ask if the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
--
Next Tuesday at noon EST, I'm hosting a free masterclass: 
"Why Your Success Feels Empty — And What to Do About It." 

It's for leaders who got the promotion but lost the plot. 

If that's you, the link is in the featured section in my profile and in the comments.

Them: I've heard your name before. Were you on TV?



Me: No, I wasn't

Them: Are you sure?

Me: I'm sure. You're thinking of Tarek El Moussa from "Flip or Flop."

Them: You are right!

It's funny, I get this a lot now.

Same first name, very different hairstyles.

I used to hate spelling and pronouncing my name.

Now I don't mind at all. 

I've learned to embrace who I am instead of trying to fit in.

Living a life of purpose starts with getting comfortable in your own skin.

📌 DM me "PURPOSE" if you're ready to join my masterclass that goes live tonight at 6 PM CST.
--
tagging Tarek Dakakni, MD FCCP Tarek Taha  Tarek Sobh Tarek Dewey for fun!

I once sat in a conference room and watched a senior leader take credit for his team's work.


And no one said a word.

Gallup says companies pick the wrong manager 82% of the time.

75% of people who quit aren't leaving the company. 
They're leaving the boss.

The loudest person often gets promoted.
Even when they're not the most capable.

We built a system that rewards command-and-control leadership. 
Then we act confused when people leave.

I watched it for 30 years.

The leaders who listened first and built people up? Passed over.
The ones who were quick to speak and slow to listen? Corner office.

Here's what the research says: 
Servant-led teams see 50% lower turnover and 35% higher productivity.

If you're promoting someone this year, ask yourself:

Am I choosing the person everyone notices? 
Or the person everyone trusts?

I watched a boss shut down her own employee last week.


In a co-working space. In front of everyone.

The employee asked questions. She wanted to learn.

Her boss cut her off. Mid-sentence. More times than I could count.

It wasn't coaching. It wasn't development.

It was poor leadership on display.

Here are 10 things that need to go in 2026

1. Managers who confuse control with leadership
2. Companies that preach culture but practice fear
3. Promoting people who are good "doers" but bad leaders
4. Leaders who talk about development but never let anyone grow
5. Meetings run by people who love the sound of their own voice
6. "Open door policies" where the door is open but the ears are closed
7. One-way loyalty disguised as "we're a family"

But I'm not done. 
Because some of this is on us too.

8. Staying in a job you hate because it feels "safe"
9. Blaming the company while doing nothing to change your situation
10. Waiting for others to give you permission to go after what you actually want

The best companies respect their people.

But the best professionals respect themselves enough to stop settling.

What would you add to the list?

♻️ Repost for someone who needs to hear this.
--
I'm hosting a masterclass on 3/24 on how to be a true success. Here's the link to signup: https://lnkd.in/e9CvvYdf

I wrote my eulogy today.


What didn't make my list:
- The corner office.
- The vacation home.
- The Ferrari.

What made the list:
- My faith.
- My family.
- My friends.

The things we chase seem important and aren't necessarily bad.

But if they won't make your eulogy, you are wasting your life.

Begin with the end in mind.

Join my masterclass on 3/24 if you're ready to live with purpose: https://lnkd.in/e9CvvYdf

The best leaders are the ones with all the answers.


Thought no one ever.

But I used to think that.

Because that's what I saw in my leaders.

They would:
↳ Be the first to speak.
↳ Take credit for work that others did.
↳ Never admit when they were wrong.
↳ Make all the decisions.

The best leaders I know:
↳ Are quick to listen and slow to speak.
↳ Encourage the quiet ones to speak up.
↳ Give credit away generously.
↳ Build trust by admitting they got something wrong.

Being a leader is not about being the boss.
It's about being someone who is worthy of being followed.

♻ Repost to help a leader in your network.
Follow Tarek Taha for more.

Average coaching: feels like catching up with a friend.
Great coaching: makes you uncomfortable enough to change.

Average coaching: validates your excuses.
Great coaching: challenges your identity.

Average coaching: You leave feeling good.
Great coaching: You leave knowing what to do.

Average coaching: You talk about the same problems for months.
Great coaching: You solve them in weeks because someone won't let you hide.

You don't need someone who agrees with you.

You need someone who sees what you can't.

👉 DM me "PURPOSE" if you're ready for real change.

I help VPs & Directors go from successful but empty to successful and fulfilled | DM me “PURPOSE” to join my masterclass

The most dangerous feedback I ever received was "great job."


Once a year, I would study prior performance reviews, looking for progress.

I read things like: 
 "Exceeds expectations." 
 "Strong performer." 
 "Positive impact."

This was good, right?

It did feel good. That was the problem.

There was zero constructive feedback.

I was like a gas station hot dog on a roller. 
Spinning. Warm. Looking great on the outside.

Except I wasn't growing. 
I was just cooking.
Year after year after year...

I mistook motion for progress. 

When comfort becomes your goal, your future potential is cooked.

One of my engineers got a massive job offer from another company.


We're talking almost double what we were paying them. 

When he told me, my first thought was about me. 

"I just lost one of my best people. What will I do?"

But the first words out of my mouth were: 

"You need to take that offer. It will be great for your family."

I then acted as a reference. 

The worst time to offer a raise is after someone resigns. 

If they are valuable to you, let them know by paying them what they're worth.

And keep the people who genuinely want to stay.

[ 👉 Follow Tarek Taha for more | ♻️ Repost if this resonated]

In 2018, a surgeon cut into my brain. 


I was 50 years old with a brain infection. 

I remember lying in that hospital bed thinking about my 20+ year corporate career. 

The VP title I wanted. 
The corner office. 
The promotions I'd fought for. 

And none of it mattered. 

Not because the work was bad. 

But because I'd been building someone else's version of success for nearly three decades without ever asking one question: 

What am I actually here for? 

That health crisis changed me. 

Since the surgery, I've spent every day helping leaders answer that question before life forces them to. 

Next Tuesday at noon EST, I'm hosting a free masterclass: 
"Why Your Success Feels Empty — And What to Do About It." 

It's for leaders who got the promotion but lost the plot. 

👉 If that's you, the link is in the featured section in my profile and in the comments.

Your title won't matter on your last day.

Living a life beneath your potential will.

I'm hosting a free masterclass next Tuesday at noon EST:

"Why Your Success Feels Empty — And What to Do About It." 

It's for leaders who got the promotion but still have an empty tank.

👉 If that's you, click the link below to join us.

Qamar Gebarin, CIPP/US, CIPM, CIPT, CIPP/C, Cory Smith, MBA and 13 other attendees

View event: Why your success feels empty and what to do about it!

Why your success feels empty and what to do about it!

You are what you give your attention to. 
And right now, it's killing your leadership.


Scroll through your last 24 hours.

How much went to Teams threads that didn't need you?

How much went to doomscrolling news that left you angry?

How much went to meetings that made you feel busy but not better?

Now ask yourself: what did you consume that actually made you grow?

That's the gap.

Every book you don't read is a mentor you'll never meet.

Every hour you give to noise is an hour you're not becoming the leader your team needs.

You don't have a time problem.

You have an attention problem.

Your inputs are your blueprint. 
Choose them like your leadership depends on it.

Because it does.

I wrote more in my blog today. Link in comments.

Everything I know about servant leadership, I learned from a woman who wrote children's books.


My mom was a media specialist and a children's book author.

She didn't manage a P&L. 
She didn't lead a department. 
She never stood on a stage to talk about her leadership philosophy.

But she showed me something that no management training ever did.

She showed me that the words you speak matter:
- To yourself.
- To others.
- To the world.

Leading others by serving them isn't weak, and it isn't just one of many options.

It is the only valid option.

Pass it on.

There's one major secret to living a fulfilling life.


And it's about giving to others, not receiving recognition from them.

Living a fulfilling life means:

1. Waking up each day with an expectation to serve
↳ Make your coffee shop barista smile
↳ Go to lunch with your kid at school
↳ Ask a team member where they are stuck

2. Investing in yourself every day
↳ Read one chapter of a growth book
↳ Listen to a podcast and learn new ideas
↳ Put one thing you learn into practice

3. Taking action instead of planning endlessly
↳ Let a team member take the lead on their idea
↳ Stop worrying about all the political angles
↳ Learn through failure

You will never achieve enough to make you feel like enough.

Fulfillment comes when you give the best of what you have to serve others.

📌 DM me "PURPOSE" if you're ready to start living yours.

I met some 5th graders last week who were more impressive than many adults.


These were the finalists for the Amazing Shake competition at their school.

We sat at a table and ate breakfast together.

They carried the conversation.

They asked great questions.

They talked about serving others.

They talked about what they wanted to do when they grew up.
(the answers ranged from a day trader to a brain surgeon)

They didn't all start out being confident enough to join the Amazing Shake.

One young lady said that she thought she was too shy.
"And now here I am!"

The culture at this school is impressive and is changing lives.

When you are around people who believe in you, 
Anything is possible.

You will become like the people you spend the most time with.

Change your environment and change your life.

🔔 Follow Tarek Taha for more

"Follow your passion" is the worst career advice ever given. 


I bought into it for 25 years. 

Found work I was passionate about. 
Got promoted. 
Hit almost every target. 

Yet I still felt empty on Sunday nights. 

Here's what nobody tells high-achievers: 
- Success is about what makes YOU feel good. 
- Purpose is about what the world needs from you. 

They are not the same thing. 

I've coached dozens of leaders. 

All of them were chasing success. 
Yet most felt something was missing, no matter what they achieved.  

The leaders who actually feel fulfilled didn't chase dollars and titles. 

They asked a harder question: what was I built to contribute? 

Because success without purpose won't ever satisfy. 

Start asking what you were made for.

My work inbox was empty on my last day.


Not one email.
Not one “quick question.”
Just…nothing.

That screenshot messed with me.

For years, my calendar felt like proof I mattered.

But the truth is simple.
-You can be replaced fast.
-Your company will move on.
-Someone else will sit in your chair.
-The emails will keep coming, just not to you.

The people you love are the only ones who cannot replace you.

So if you’ve been giving your best to work,
And your leftovers to your family, 

Stop.

Work will take what you give it.
Life will take what you give it too.

Give your best to the people who can’t replace you.

👉 I'm hosting a masterclass next week on why your success feels empty and how to fix it: https://lnkd.in/e9CvvYdf

Most companies aren’t short on opportunity.
They’re short on systems.

Leads sit untouched.
Follow-ups happen too late.
CRM data is unreliable.
Sales and ops teams are buried in manual work.

That leakage costs real revenue - every day.

I help companies fix that.

I build AI-powered operational systems that automate lead handling, sales workflows, and reporting, so teams scale output without scaling headcount.

I work primarily with $5M–$50M organizations to:

→ Capture and respond to leads automatically
→ Systematize pipeline activity
→ Automate CRM hygiene & reporting
→ Remove operational bottlenecks

My background spans P&G, Medtronic, Zimmer Biomet, and Canary Medical combining enterprise data governance with hands-on AI system deployment.

Result:
✔ Up to 40% reduction in admin workload
✔ Faster response times
✔ Higher conversion throughput

If you lead revenue or operations and suspect manual work is holding your team back - DM me “AI”

Ogechukwu Okoh

Silence is killing more careers than rejection ever did.

Ghosting isn’t neutral.

It’s lazy leadership.

Recruiters disappear after 4 rounds.
Candidates vanish after signing.
Companies go quiet when someone negotiates.

Everyone wants professionalism.
Few want discomfort.

Feedback takes 2 minutes.
Silence can cost someone 2 months.

If you’re a candidate: have the conversation.
If you’re a recruiter: close the loop.

The market isn’t broken.

Standards are.

Ghosting doesn’t protect your brand.

It exposes your culture.

Practical systems to scale businesses | More output, same headcount | DM “AI”

Hiring for perfection is lazy leadership.

Not because the talent isn’t there.
But because expectations are unrealistic.

I’ve seen companies reject great people over:

– Not having the perfect background
– Missing one tool on a job description
– Coming from the “wrong” industry
– Needing a little ramp-up time

Meanwhile…

The role stays open for months.
Work piles up.
The team burns out.

The uncomfortable truth:

Most roles aren’t hard.
They’re just unfamiliar.

Skills can be taught.
Tools can be learned.
Processes can be documented.

What can’t be trained?

✅ Curiosity
✅ Work ethic
✅ Accountability
✅ Willingness to learn

The best hires I’ve seen weren’t “plug-and-play.”
They were given trust, context, and room to grow.

And they outperformed the “perfect-on-paper” candidates every time.

90% of jobs are teachable.
Give someone an opportunity.

AI Operations Architect | Eliminating manual data reconciliation & margin leaks for Mid-Market Logistics/Manufacturing | DM “SHIELD” for a Data-to-AI Audit

A-players don’t quit companies.
They quit standards.

Not pay.
Not perks.
Not workload.

Standards.

Because nothing drains a high performer faster than this:

Watching accountability become optional.
Watching mediocrity go unchecked.
Watching effort get treated the same as output.
Watching leaders avoid hard conversations.

Top performers aren’t motivated by comfort — they’re motivated by momentum.

They want:

✅ Clarity
✅ Ownership
✅ Challenge
✅ Growth
✅ Signal that excellence actually matters

The moment they realize performance isn’t protected…

They disengage.
Then they exit.
Silently. Professionally. Permanently.

And leadership often calls it a retention problem.

It’s not.

It’s a tolerance problem.

Culture isn’t what you preach.
It’s what you permit.

And your strongest people are always watching.

Nothing will kill a great employee faster than watching you tolerate a bad one.

I made a phone call most employees avoid.

It changed my income trajectory.

During a 1:1, I told my manager:

“I want a bigger life. My current compensation won’t support it.”

No emotion.
No threats.
Just clarity.

Months later, I got an external offer. Much higher.

When I told him, he didn’t guilt me.

He asked:

“Is this aligned with where you’re going?”

It was.

He supported the move.

That’s when it clicked:

Good leaders don’t own you.
And you are responsible for your ceiling.

Advocating for yourself isn’t selfish.
It’s strategic.

Your career is a vehicle.
Upgrade it if it can’t take you where you’re going.

Here’s an uncomfortable truth most people don’t want to hear:

Your goals don’t actually matter.

Seriously.

Because goals don’t create outcomes.
Systems do.

Every January LinkedIn fills up with declarations:

“I’m going to grow.”
“I’m going to pivot.”
“I’m going to level up.”

Then February hits… and nothing changes.

Not because people lack ambition,
but because ambition isn’t executable.

Habits are.

The biggest leaps in my career didn’t come from setting bigger targets.

They came from installing repeatable actions:

✅ Posting even when 5 people engaged
✅ Sending outreach when there was no immediate payoff
✅ Learning when nobody was watching
✅ Building when there was no validation yet

None of that felt meaningful in the moment.

But repetition compounds louder than motivation ever will.

That’s the pattern I keep seeing,
with founders, operators, high performers:

Winners don’t rely on intensity.

They rely on consistency.

So here’s a question worth sitting with today:

What behaviors are you repeating right now
that your future self will inherit?

Because whether intentional or not,
you’re installing something.

And it’s shaping where you end up.

Your future is shaped by the habits you repeat,
not the goals you set.

Most people aren’t losing to competitors.

They’re losing to themselves.

Not because they lack talent.
Not because they lack opportunity.

But because the real drag on momentum is invisible:

Habits that dilute focus.
Distractions that steal execution time.
Insecurities that shrink decisions.
Fear that delays action.
Ego that blocks learning.
Procrastination that compounds silently.
Undisciplined routines that erode progress.

I’ve seen it across industries: consulting, analytics, operators, founders, the difference rarely comes down to raw capability.

It comes down to internal friction.

The uncomfortable truth:

You don’t outcompete markets.
You don’t outcompete peers.

You outcompete patterns.

The moment you start auditing your own behaviors like you would a business process, things change.

Better inputs → cleaner execution → stronger outcomes.

No motivational fluff.
Just systems thinking applied inward.

Your only competition is yesterday’s you.

Outgrow yourself to unlock success.

♻️ Repost to inspire your network
➕ Follow Ogechukwu Okoh for more

You don’t get overlooked at work by accident.

It’s usually engineered.

Not by others.

By the signals you send.

You say yes too fast.
Deliver quietly.
Fix problems no one sees.
Absorb chaos without escalation.

So the system learns:

You’re reliable.
Low-maintenance.
Always available.

Not visible.
Not scarce.
Not strategic.

Meanwhile someone else
talks before they’re ready,
shares half-formed ideas,
and attaches their name to outcomes.

They look senior.

You look supportive.

Careers don’t just grow on output.
They grow on perceived ownership.

If your work moves the business
but your name doesn’t move with it…

You’re training people
to benefit from you
without advancing you.

Quiet excellence is admirable.

Visible ownership is promotable.

Chasing opportunities is the fastest way to look like you don’t have any.

Clients.
Jobs.
Attention.
Validation.

You can feel it when someone is chasing.

‼️ It creates pressure.
‼️ Scarcity.
‼️ Desperation.

And people instinctively move away from that energy.

Here’s what changed everything for me:

I stopped optimizing for pursuit,
and started optimizing for value creation.

✅ Building skills.
✅ Sharpening perspective.
✅ Publishing ideas.
✅ Solving real problems.
✅ Showing up consistently.

You don’t force attraction.
You engineer it.

Because when your environment signals growth, insight, and momentum…

Opportunities don’t need convincing.
They arrive curious.

Attention compounds around substance.
Not pursuit.

Build something worth discovering.

If you spend your time chasing butterflies, they'll fly away. But if you spend your time making a beautiful garden, the butterflies will come.

Don't chase, attract.

Comfort isn’t a reward.

It’s a ceiling.

When everything feels easy,
predictable,
fully under control…
growth has usually slowed.

Because growth has a signature:

Stretch
Friction
Uncertainty
Exposure

Success often creates comfort.

And comfort starts protecting itself.

You stop taking risks.
You optimize for stability.

You defend what you’ve built.
Instead of expanding it.

So the real question isn’t:
“Am I comfortable?”

It’s:
“Am I still being stretched?”

Growth doesn't happen when you're comfortable.

It happens when you're challenged.

Chasing looks like effort.

Attraction looks like discipline.

Chasing is loud.

Attraction is structured.

If you have to convince the market,
You’re compensating for positioning.

Build leverage.

Refine skill.

Sharpen signal.

Raise standards.

When your work compounds,
Attention follows.

When your standards compound,
Opportunity follows.

Stop chasing validation.

Start building value density.

The market is attracted to clarity.

Not noise.

Don’t chase opportunity.
Become difficult to ignore.

Your technical skills aren’t what make you valuable.

Plenty of smart, capable people get passed over every day.

Because capability isn’t the differentiator,
trust is.

People don’t remember how intelligent you sounded.
They remember how working with you felt.

Did you create clarity, or friction?
Momentum, or exhaustion?

Across consulting, engineering, ops, analytics, I’ve seen the same pattern:

The professionals who accelerate fastest aren’t always the most technical.

They’re the ones who:

✅ Make execution lighter
✅ Challenge without ego
✅ Raise standards without raising stress

Careers scale through relationships.
And relationships scale through trust.

So ask yourself:

When people work with you,
do they leave sharper… or just relieved it’s over?

Your greatest skill isn't what you do.

It's whether working with you feels like growth or survival.

Here’s a hard truth no one warns you about:

Loyalty is often punished in modern workplaces.

Stay too long?
You’re “comfortable.”

Go above and beyond?
You get more work, not more leverage.

Solve problems quietly?
You disappear.

Meanwhile, the person who leaves and comes back?
Instant raise.
Instant respect.
Instant “new perspective.”

Companies say they value loyalty.
What they actually value is perceived scarcity.

Your value isn’t defined by how long you stay.
It’s defined by how hard you are to replace.

Your growth will trigger people
who stopped pursuing theirs.

Not because you’re wrong.
Because you’re moving.

Standards expose stagnation.
Discipline exposes drift.
Momentum exposes comfort.

So the story becomes:

“You’re too intense.”
“You’re doing too much.”
“You’ve changed.”

No.

You removed the ceiling
they were comfortable under.

Projection is easier than self-reflection.
Criticism is safer than courage.

So they judge.

Not your work.
Your deviation.

If you keep building,
you will outgrow rooms.

That’s not rejection.
That’s signal.

Psychology says, no matter how good you are,
people will judge you according to their own insecurities.

Comfortable employees don’t get replaced.

Predictable ones do.

Consistency feels safe.
Reliable. Low-risk.

But in competitive environments,
predictability signals ceiling.

If I can forecast your output,
I can automate it.
Outsource it.
Or hire cheaper for it.

Leverage comes from expansion,
not repetition.

New skills.
New scope.
New problems you solve.

The people who advance fastest
aren’t the most experienced.

They’re the hardest to map.

Because they evolve
faster than their role.

Stability is valuable.
Stagnation is visible.

If your value looks the same
every quarter,

your risk quietly rises.

Become difficult to categorize.
Difficult to replace.
Difficult to ignore.

Careers compound for people
who expand faster than expectations.

If you are the smartest person on your AI deployment team, 
your system is already obsolete.

I see operations leaders sabotage their own scaling efforts every day.

They get handed a massive automation mandate from the CEO.

But instead of bringing in the deep technical experts, 
they try to build it all themselves.

Then: 
• They hoard the architecture design 
• They write fragile, amateur data queries 
• They treat true engineers like competitors

What’s actually happening: 
Ego is blocking industrial-grade scaling.

They are terrified that bringing in a brilliant data scientist will make their own operational role look less valuable.

And the cost is massive: 
• The validation layer gets skipped entirely 
• A 6-hour manual task turns into a catastrophic database error

The best AI Operators operate differently.

They don't need to be the sharpest coder in the room.

They act as the ultimate bridge between the CEO’s vision and the engineer’s reality.

They aggressively recruit people who can expose the flaws in their own logic.

Working with people smarter than you is a blessing,
not a threat.

You don’t stand out at work
by being louder.

You stand out
by being useful at a level others avoid.

Competitive workplaces reward
two types of people:

Performers
and multipliers.

Performers win moments.
Multipliers change systems.

They’re the ones who:

Fix what everyone tolerates.
Clarify what everyone assumes.
Own what everyone shares.

No announcement.
No permission.

Just standards applied
where others stay passive.

If you want to make a difference
in a competitive environment:

Stop trying to be impressive.
Start trying to be indispensable.

Careers accelerate when you improve the system,
not just your position inside it.

Most “high-performing” corporate roles are held together by broken systems and heroic effort.

A couple weekends ago, I grabbed drinks with a friend.

She’s an account manager at a Fortune 500 company.
Manages 160 accounts.

She told me the hardest part of her job wasn’t selling.
It wasn’t relationship building.
It wasn’t even prioritization.

It was keeping up with constant leadership changes.

New execs.
Quiet mergers.
Department reshuffles.
External news that completely changes an account’s priorities overnight.

All scattered across emails, LinkedIn, press releases, and internal tools that don’t talk to each other.

So I asked her a simple question:

“If you could fix this instantly, what would the solution look like?”

She didn’t hesitate.

“I’d want something that automatically tells me when leadership changes, major news breaks, or external events affect any of my accounts.”

Not another dashboard.
Not another CRM field.

Awareness. In real time.

We talked through how modern LLMs and lightweight automations could do the monitoring, filtering, and summarizing for her.

One system.
One feed.
160 accounts.

Now she knows:

✅ Which accounts need attention before problems surface
✅ Which leadership changes create partnership opportunities
✅ Where to focus her energy instead of reacting late

Same job.
Same role.
Massively different leverage.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Most corporate burnout isn’t caused by workload.
It’s caused by manual thinking that software should already be doing.

Top performers don’t work harder.
They build systems that think ahead of them.

‼️ If this resonates, DM me the word SYSTEM.

Certainty is a performance advantage.

Not because you control outcomes.

But because you control commitment.

Watch the difference:

One person hesitates.
Waits for clarity.
Needs reassurance.

Another moves.
Acts.
Decides before proof.

Same uncertainty.
Different identity.

High performers don’t wait for guarantees.

They behave as if alignment is inevitable.

Not blind optimism.

Operational confidence.

Because hesitation leaks into everything:

Your leadership
Your standards
Your decisions
Your pace

And people can feel it.

Environments follow energy.

So do opportunities.

Move like things are working.

You’ll create the conditions
that make them work.

Move like everything is gonna work out.

Because it is.

The most dangerous risk in your business right now isn't an untested AI model.

It's the "safe" manual process you refuse to let go of.

I see operations teams cling to 6-hour manual data tasks like a life raft.

They tell themselves it’s about "quality control."
They say, "We just don't trust the AI to handle this yet."

So instead of building a robust validation layer, they: 
• Manually double-check every output 
• Spend weekends auditing spreadsheets 
• Treat automation like a shiny toy instead of core infrastructure

What’s actually happening: 
It isn't a lack of trust in the technology.

It's the fear of building the architecture that makes their manual grind obsolete.

Building an industrial-grade, 
100% audit-proof system is uncomfortable.

It forces you to bridge the gap between a CEO's grand vision and the brutal reality of your dirty data.

But you cannot scale a business through sheer brute force.

Manual effort feels safe, 
but it creates a permanent operational bottleneck.

Architecting a 20-minute automated audit feels intimidating, 
but it creates limitless leverage.

You grow by doing what scares you.
Not by staying in your comfort zone.

Control feels like leadership
when you don’t trust your system.

That’s why micromanagement persists.

Because they don’t trust outcomes
without proximity.

So they hover.
Check.
Correct.
Insert.

It looks like diligence.

It’s actually design failure.

Strong operators don’t scale effort.
They scale clarity.

They build:

✅ Clear standards
✅ Clear ownership
✅ Clear decision rights
✅ Clear feedback loops

Then they step back.

Micromanagement is rarely about people.
It’s about leaders managing
their own uncertainty in public.

And teams feel it immediately.

Because nothing signals distrust faster
than constant intervention.

If you want to lead adults:

Design systems adults can run.

Then let them.

Leaders who build clarity earn autonomy.
Leaders who don’t, supervise forever.

taplio

The Battle

Tarek Taha

Ogechukwu Okoh

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreTarek Taha's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreOgechukwu Okoh's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Tarek Taha

Ogechukwu Okoh

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Tarek Taha's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreOgechukwu Okoh's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreTarek Taha's LinkedIn Performance