Ty Hoesgen

Do you ever try to explain something in a meeting,
but it doesn’t come out as clearly as you want it to?

You over-explain.
You're not concise. 
Or you leave the meeting overthinking:

“I should have said that better.”

Most people assume they just need "more practice"
That’s rarely the problem.

It's actually about a lack of structure.
And how your brain responds to pressure. 

That's why I work with professionals who want 
to be seen as more clear, confident, and credible.

(especially in high-stakes situations)

So far, I’ve coached 330+ professionals with a 99% success rate. 

Many are managers, directors, executives, and founders. 
People in positions where clarity matters. 

Our work focuses on 3 things:

1.) Clear, concise speaking on the spot

2.) Confidence and composure under pressure

3.) Executive presence in important situations

Everything is customized and built around 
the real-life meetings, presentations, and 
conversations you'd like to speak better in. 

If crystal clear speaking would be helpful 
for you and your professional life,

DM me “CLEAR" to learn more.

Founder & CEO / Communication Coach

🧠 Advanced Growth Institute is dedicated to helping individuals and organizations from around the world master their communication and people skills. 

🏆 1.) Elite Private Coaching — for individuals who want to gain a positively unfair advantage in their life and career. 

💬 Our Elite Communication Accelerator is a private coaching program for growth-minded individuals who want to:

✅ Advance their career
✅ Become strong, influential leaders
✅ ​Get more respect
✅ Earn what they deserve
✅ ​Elevate their social life
✅ Form deeper relationships
✅ ​Live a less stressful life 

📈 AGI works closely with clients on their communication and people skills, helping them overcome unique challenges and accomplish their personal and professional goals. 

⭐ 2.) Custom Corporate Trainings — for organizations who care deeply about their team members and clients, and want to maximize their success in every interaction. 

🎤 Attendees are taught practical, science-backed communication strategies to boost sales, form deeper relationships, build trust and influence, listen with intention, and connect better with clients, co-workers, and customers.

✍️ Our captivating presentations have attendees smiling, laughing, rapidly taking notes, and leaving with a ton of actionable takeaways. 

📖 3.) Other Resources — best-selling books, courses, guides, video trainings

Have you heard about the 7 
deadly sins of speaking? 💀

1. Gossiping
2. Judging
3. Negativity
4. Complaining
5. Excuses
6. Lying
7. Dogmatism

In the video, I added 7 silly 
(& less deadly) examples of each. 

They're all about big arms 😅

This is from Julien Treasure's famous TED talk: 
How to Speak so that People Want to Listen

Which deadly sin are you making?

And if you’re a perfect angel:

Which one do others do that annoys you the most?

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Helping leaders & teams communicate with clarity & confidence 🏆 World Class Certified Speaking Coach / 3x Bestselling Author / TEDx Speaker / Trusted by leaders at Amazon, Microsoft, & More

Welcome, I appreciate you being here. Quick question - can you relate to any of these?

→ You don't always explain your points clearly and concisely.
→ You sometimes feel nervous when speaking or presenting to groups.
→ You don't feel as confident in difficult situations (or around certain people).
→ You find it hard to organize and articulate your thoughts on the spot. 

If so, I totally get it. 

Even the lifetime overachievers and high performers feel this way sometimes. 

But what if you could make these 3 changes?

1) Learn to speak with unshakeable confidence
2) Master charisma to captivate any audience
3) Learn to organize and articulate your thoughts clearly and concisely 

(Especially on the spot or in high pressure situations)

If you do, you could gain:

— The ability to stay calm under pressure
— The power to own the room when speaking
— Increased respect from everyone you meet 
— A strong reputation in your company and industry 
— Open doors to new career/business opportunities

Now you might be thinking, 

"This all SOUNDS good Ty, but how the heck do you actually get there?" 😅

Great question. That's where coaching comes in! 

There are 3 key parts of my coaching program: 

1.) Personalized 1-on-1 coaching sessions tailored to your needs
2.) Step-by-step weekly plans to ensure constant improvement
3.) Messaging access for additional support and questions throughout the week 

Everything in the program is backed by science (and has been done with hundreds of people)

Because I know everything works, there's a 100% money back guarantee.

And if you're curious, here's a bit more about me:

→ Former shy, awkward farm kid who was a TERRIBLE speaker and loved avoiding people 

→ Today, 330+ professionals coached 1-on-1 across tech, sales, healthcare, finance, and more

→ World-Class Certified Speaking Coach
(Trained by Craig Valentine, former #1 ranked public speaker in the world) 

→ 3x best-selling author on communication skills 

→ TEDx speaker (recent talk given April 2025)

With all that said...

If you're ready to elevate your speaking skills and advance your career...

DM me the word “COMMUNICATION” 

Happy to have a quick chat about how everything works.

***Please mention whether you're interested in:

- 1-on-1 coaching programs
- Corporate group trainings

Book Your Free Strategy Session

Speak Like a Confident Leader in 7 Days

Heart of the City Piano Program (HCPP) is a volunteer-driven non-profit organization that provides music lessons to underprivileged youth.

Speak clearly and confidently under pressure in 90 days (guaranteed) / World Class Certified Speaking Coach / 3x Bestselling Author / TEDx Speaker / 330+ clients coached

Loud voices get attention.
But calm clarity creates real success.

Today, many professionals want to stand out. 

But they're going about it the wrong way. 

They speak quickly.
They give long answers. 
They don't allow space for silence. 

This urgency can get you attention, 

but it's the wrong kind of attention. 

And it often scrambles your thoughts and weakens your message.

The people who stay calm under pressure 
and speak clearly on the spot...

Are the ones who've learned to balance peace with power. 

What are they doing?

→ Staying composed
→ Controlling their pace 
→ Starting points with clarity
→ Finishing points with authority
→ Listening fully before responding

They don’t treat these as speaking 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴.

They treat them as speaking 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴.

And the people around them feel the difference.

Do you think you've learned to balance peace with power?

As a kid, I was shy, awkward, and introverted.

My favorite activities were:

1.) Climbing trees
2.) Reading books
3.) Playing piano

What do these things have in common?

‭→ I was by myself
‭→ I didn’t have to talk to anyone

Luckily, I grew up on a farm near a small town of 800 people.

Which made avoiding people a little bit easier.

But not speaking became difficult when I grew up. 

In my first professional job:

‭→ Small talk made me anxious.
‭→ I'd avoid answering the phone. 
‭→ I’d throw up before meetings.

Flash forward years later, and I gave a TEDx Talk.

About 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, of all things…

I felt calm leading up to the talk. 
And confident when I stepped on stage.

Much different than my younger self. 

This was possible for 3 reasons: 

1.) Speaking is a skill.
2.) Staying calm is a skill.
3.) Showing up with confidence is a skill.

I obsessed over communication for 10+ years
to learn the best ways to build these skills.

And now I’m blessed to be able 
to help others to do the same.

(But my programs aren't 10 years long, I promise)

Remember this: 

You're not "stuck" at any level.
No matter how high or low. 

You can always improve your skills and get better.

And I'm rooting for you.

Once I stopped making this communication mistake, 
everybody started listening to me more. 

What was it? 

Using complicated/fancy words. 

Here’s why:

Studies show people consider messages 
more honest and trustworthy when a person 
uses simple instead of complicated words. 

This means if you use simpler language:

There’s a greater chance people will believe you. 

And buy into what you're saying. 

It also takes less brain power for your listeners to understand you.

So you’re doing everyone a favour by 
making it easier to absorb your message. 

I give an example of complicated vs. simple in the video. 

If you think you should be using big words
and developing a complex vocabulary...

There are better ways to spend your time. 

You’d be better off using that time learning 
to explain things in a simple, clear way. 

Have you ever thought "I need a bigger vocabulary?"

One of my clients was a VP leading 200 people.
Sharp guy. Good at his job. 
𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘀...

→ He’d get interrupted sometimes.
→ His ideas wouldn’t always land.

He told me:

“I know I’m great at what I do, but I'm not 
sure if I always come across that way.”

We worked together on structure, pacing, and brevity.

→ It was like putting his communication on a diet.
→ We trimmed the ramble fat and made him lean.

(His speaking now has visible abs)

1 month in, his COO told him:

“You’ve been coming across better in 
meetings lately. People are noticing.”

It’s not about saying more.

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 
𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Because being great at what you do isn’t enough.

You have to be able to communicate it.

Do you agree?

Sometimes you have to look back

and remember how far you’ve come…

Even if it’s just passport photos. 😅 

-

P.S. How much do you look
like 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 passport photo?

How I removed filler words for good
(and how you can too)

3 Proven Techniques:

1.) Speak in shorter sentences. 

Long, run-on sentences 
= harder to control 
= more filler words 

2.) Slow your speaking pace. 

Faster speech 
= harder to control 
= more filler words 

3.) Proper breathing. 

At the end of your sentence, 
take a breath and inhale.
Then speak as you exhale. 

This forces you to pause more.

Anyone can remove their filler words. 
I've seen it with hundreds of clients over the years. 

That means you can too.

Which filler word do you use the most?

Day 1: Terrible workplace environment. 
Stressed, overwhelmed.
Unclear communication. 

Day 60: Landed new job. 
Optimistic, excited. 
Clear, structured communication. 

Some of the changes we've seen:

→ Enhanced clarity when explaining points
→ Stronger, more confident nonverbal presence 
→ Large reduction in filler words and softeners 
→ Less doubt and overthinking about what to say 
→ Long answers are now tight and concise 

There's still some work to be done, 

But this client has made a lot of progress. 

Enough progress to rock those tough 
interviews and land the job she wanted. 

Can you remember the last time you wanted 
a fresh start and were applying for jobs?

And then you finally got the role you were hoping for?

This 1 thing I learned makes me 
immediately sound more credible
any time I speak.

(Especially in high pressure situations)

It’s strategic pausing. Which is: 

1.) Pausing to gather your thoughts
2.) Pausing after saying something important. 

But I used to be TERRIBLE at this.

One day after giving an update in a team meeting,
my boss looked at me with a dead stare and said:

“Ty, slow down. You don’t get any prizes for finishing quickly.” 

I was incredibly embarrassed, but he was right. 

I needed to slow down and pause more. 

A well-timed pause does 3 things:

1.) Shows a high level of composure. 
2.) Gives your listeners time to absorb what you’re saying.
3.) Makes your words land with more weight. 

Silence is not weakness. It’s emphasis. 

It reminds me of a quote from Mozart: 

"The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between."

Agree?

"How do you help me build my confidence?"
There's a reason this is on my FAQ page. 

Think of your brain like a computer. 

Over time, different 'programs' get installed in your brain…

that cause you to think, feel, and speak a certain way. 

So if you’re confident in certain situations
but less confident in others, there are programs 
in your brain that are causing this. 

(Same goes with overthinking, doubt, etc.)

Most people think they can fix this by:

1.) Getting a ton of tips and tricks 

2.) Just practicing a lot

Most coaches will teach you that way as well.

But the problem is:

It’s like trying to add new software to a computer 
when you haven’t removed the bugs. 

That's why we need to:

1.) Uninstall the programs that are holding you back.

2.) Install new ones that help you feel more confident. 

We do this using neuroscience-backed techniques to reprogram your subconscious mind. (that fun nerdy stuff)

Which is kind of like reprogramming 
your system so it runs smoothly.

This is what allows you to overcome 

the nerves, doubt, overthinking...

And feel more

confident, calm, and in control when you speak. 

Have you ever thought of your brain like a computer?

My client saw my post 
about her yesterday and
sent me a message...

When you work with awesome people, 
they always want to give 𝘺𝘰𝘶 a lot of credit. 

And you always want to give 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 a lot of credit.  

Especially when you work with 
kind, genuine humans (like this client)

It's pretty wholesome. 

Now when it comes to confidence, 

Even people like this in senior 
positions can still have challenges. 

I see it daily. 

So if you've ever thought: 

"I'm experienced. I should feel more confident." 

You are not alone.
And you can always get better. 

I'm rooting for you.

Many professionals ruin their points when speaking. 
Are you one of them?

If you ever catch yourself using 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀
you might be in this group. 

(I definitely was)

It's not that you need more knowledge. 

You just need a particular set of skills. 

The skills of organizing your thoughts quickly
and then explaining them clearly and concisely.

Because if you can't get to the point quickly...

People will assume you have none.

They'll stop listening and zone out. 
(especially with attention spans these days 😅)

So if you want to sound more credible, trim the fat.

Make your messages lean. 

After all, why spend 3 minutes delivering a point 
that could have been made in 30 seconds?

If you're not super skilled at this 𝘺𝘦𝘵, it's all good. 

It's a skill that can be learned just like anything else. 

You got this.

"Why am I like this?"

I used to ask myself that all the time.

Whenever I: 

➙ Struggled to get my thoughts out 
➙ Didn't explain myself clearly 
➙ Responded poorly to a difficult person 
➙ Overreacted under pressure 

I'd get really down on myself. 

Thankfully, I eventually learned something important: 

These weren't personality traits. 
They were skills I could get better at. 

That's why I spent over a decade obsessing over: 

1.) How to organize my thoughts 
2.) How to explain them clearly and concisely 
3.) How to stay calm in difficult moments 

And how to have less of those: 

➙ "Why did I say it like that?
➙ "Why did I respond that way?
➙ "I should have said that better" 

type of moments. 

It added a level of calm, clarity, and confidence
that makes it easier to handle tough moments 
(and tough people)

Which makes daily life feel smoother and more peaceful. 

It's not perfect, but it feels a LOT better than before. 

Have you ever had thoughts like this?

"It feels like I have 10 chrome tabs open in my brain
and when I talk, I don't know which one to use" 

Heard this from a Director on a strategy session yesterday. 

She seemed smart and knew her stuff. 

But there were "too many thoughts" 
running through her mind at once.

Which makes it tough for her to organize 
them and deliver a clear, concise point. 

(Especially with senior leaders or larger groups)

Now has this ever happened to you?

→ You have a bunch of thoughts 
→ You start saying something
→ You realize you're not being clear 
→ You get flustered from noticing 
→ You keep talking to try to make it clear 

Why does this happen?

Because you've never learned how to properly 
organize those thoughts under pressure. 

Then explain them in a way that's 
clear and easy to understand. 

Ultimately, you just haven't learned the skill of “choosing one tab.”

Can you relate to this at all?

Apps, sites, & software for startups and the big companies they strive to become.

You know the Stanford Marshmallow Test?
 
Give a kid a marshmallow. Tell them if they wait 10 minutes, they get two.
Researchers followed those kids for decades.
The ones who waited earned more, achieved more, outperformed across the board.
 
Self-control, the story goes, predicts success.
 
But what if it was possible to have too much of a good thing?
 
What if instead of a line going up and to the right, it's a curve?
At the top is a sweet spot where discipline, focus, and drive produce extraordinary results.
 
On the other side of that peak is suffering.
 
→ Depression that won't lift
→ Treatment-resistant anxiety
→ Burnout that persists beyond time off
→ Chronic pain with no clear physical cause
→ Relationships that function but never feel close
 
This other side of the curve is called Over-Control.
 
The founder pulling 80-hour weeks.
The person who never misses a deadline.
The leader whose team performs but never trusts them.
The executive who hasn't felt anything in years and calls it "focus."
 
Society rewards every step of the climb.
Praise. Promotions. "Success."
 
So it goes unrecognized for decades,
until the body starts keeping score,
or the loneliness becomes unbearable,
or the thing that defined you suddenly shifts beneath your feet.
 
That's where we come in.
 
The Wise Mind Group is a therapy and coaching practice built for high-achievers.
 
My wife Danielle is an ex-big law litigator turned licensed therapist and our Clinical Director, specializing in evidence-based approaches for this exact population:
people whose greatest strength has quietly become their greatest liability.
 
I'm not just the business guy. I'm patient zero.
25 years in tech. Five startups. 80-hour weeks.
I built a software agency, ran it for over a decade, and optimized every system in my life except the one that mattered most.
 
When I was a kid, my mom said I could have ONE birthday party.
I kept postponing it, waiting for the "right" time.
I never had one.
That's Over-Control in a sentence.
 
Now I work at the intersection of what I know and what I've lived.
 
We specialize in:
→ The mental health impact of AI and career disruption
→ Burnout and anxiety that "shouldn't" be there
→ The quiet suffering of being "the strong one"
→ Chronic pain without a clear physical cause
→ Leadership transitions and identity shifts
 
We use RO-DBT, IFS, EMDR, and Pain Reprocessing Therapy, approaches built for people who spent a lifetime building walls.
 
If this sounds familiar, you're not broken.
You might just have too much of a good thing,
and you can let go of the parts that are making you unhappy.
 
→ thewisemindgroup.com

Elijah Szasz

Your growth isn’t measured by pursuit.

It’s measured by restraint.

Early in your career,
you chase everything.

→ The title
→ The funding round
→ The recognition
→ The invite to the table

It feels like ambition.

Sometimes it is.

But often, it’s insecurity
with a productivity app.

Maturity in leadership
isn’t about what you add.

It’s about what you refuse to pursue.

You stop chasing:

1. Every opportunity
↳ If it’s for you, it won’t require desperation

2. Every room you’re not invited into
↳ Not all tables deserve your time

3. Every argument
↳ Being right is overrated

4. Every trend
↳ Relevance fades, principles compound

5. Every client
↳ Revenue without alignment is expensive

The strongest leaders I know
don’t look frantic.

They look focused.

Calm.

Selective.

They’ve learned that energy is finite.
Attention is sacred.
Time is non-renewable.

So they choose carefully
what deserves pursuit.

Refusal is a strategy.

When you stop chasing noise,
you hear your own standards again.

When you stop chasing approval,
you start leading with conviction.

When you stop chasing growth at all costs,
you build something sustainable.

You don’t need everything.

You need the right things.

Say no more often.

Protect your focus.

Let others sprint.

Build at your pace.

♻️ Repost to help your network.
🔔 Follow Elijah Szasz for actionable insights on AI, systems, and strategy.

The most overlooked skill in leadership?
 
Trusting your own signal over the noise.
 
Most high performers have a dirty secret.
They don't trust themselves.
 
They trust the consensus.
They trust frameworks.
They trust mentors.
They trust data.
 
But the moment they're alone
with a decision that has no playbook,
they freeze.
 
Not because they lack intelligence.
Because they've been trained to believe
that certainty must come from the outside.
 
Here's what nobody tells you:
 
Certainty is a feeling, not a fact.
And waiting for it is a trap.
 
The leaders I respect most
didn't have more information than you.
They had less hesitation.
 
They made the call.
They stayed in the room with discomfort.
They let the results teach them.
 
Trust isn't built by getting it right.
It's built by surviving getting it wrong,
and realizing you're still standing.
 
A year from now,
the version of you that took the shot
will have something the cautious version won't:
 
Evidence.
 
Not evidence that you were right.
Evidence that you can handle
whatever comes next.
 
That's the real unlock.
 
Stop waiting for confidence to arrive.
Make the decision that builds it.
 
♻️ Repost to help your network.
🔔 Follow Elijah Szasz for tips on staying grounded in the age of AI.

Starting something new can be terrifying. 

And I think that's the point.

Here's what I've learned about fear:

It's a terrible measure of readiness.

Most high performers misread the signal.

They feel uncertainty and conclude:
"I'm not ready."
"I don't have what it takes."
"The timing isn't right."

None of that is true.

Fear doesn't measure your capability.

It measures the distance between
what you know
and what's next.

That distance is supposed to exist.

If you could step into the next chapter
without any discomfort,
it probably wasn't much of a chapter.

The anxiety you feel at the edge
of a new decision isn't a warning.

It's a compass.

It's telling you:
"You care about this."
"This one actually matters."
"You're not just going through the motions."

Here's the reframe that changed how I operate:

Your nervous system wasn't built
to distinguish between danger
and growth.

Both feel like threat.

The job is to get better at telling them apart.

Danger says: "Turn back."

Growth says: "You've never been here before."

One of those is worth listening to.
The other is worth walking through.

The hardest system to debug
is your own perception.

Because when anxiety sits in the analyst chair,
every piece of data looks like a stop sign.

So before you let hesitation
make the decision for you:

→ Ask if this fear is protecting you
  from harm, or from newness.

→ Ask what you'd tell a friend
  who was exactly where you are.

→ Ask what you'd regret more:
  trying, or not trying.

Fear isn't the enemy of good decisions.

Mistaking it for certainty is.

♻️ Repost to help your network.
🔔 Follow Elijah Szasz for tips on staying grounded in the age of AI.

You think your team has a performance problem.

They have a safety problem.

There's a version of leadership that looks strong
from the outside.

Tight systems.
High standards.
No excuses.

And underneath it all:

A team that's terrified to tell you the truth.

Here's what nobody tells you about scaling:

Your stress is not private.

It leaks into every meeting.
Every Slack message.
Every two-second pause before you respond.

Your team isn't reading your strategy deck.
They're reading you.

And if what they read is:
"This person cannot handle bad news,"

they will stop giving you bad news.

That's not a loyalty problem.
That's not a communication problem.

That's a signal problem.

You trained them, without knowing it,
to protect you from reality.

So the SOPs don't get followed.
The real blockers stay hidden.
And you're making decisions
on information that's been
quietly curated for your comfort.

The fix isn't another system.

It's learning to signal:
"You can bring me the hard thing.
I won't punish the messenger."

Calm is a leadership output.
Not a personality trait.

The leader who stays regulated
when everything is on fire
creates a team that runs toward problems,
not away from them.

That's how you actually scale.

Not by gripping tighter.
By making it safe to be honest.

Ask yourself:

→ When did someone last tell you
  something you didn't want to hear?

→ How did you respond?

→ What did that response teach them?

Your answers tell you everything
about the culture you've actually built.

♻️ Repost to help your network.
🔔 Follow Elijah Szasz for tips on staying grounded in the age of AI.

Experience doesn't make you a leader.
 
How you leave people feeling does.
 
I've watched high-performers with decades of experience
miss this completely.
 
Not because they lacked skill.
Because pressure exposed their defaults.
 
When stress arrives,
respect is usually the first thing to exit.
 
It even has a clinical diagnosis:
Maladaptive Overcontrol.
 
The rigidity that looks like high standards
from the outside,
but quietly signals to your team:
"Your safety is conditional here."
 
And conditional safety
is the fastest way to kill honest feedback.
 
People stop bringing the real stuff.
Silence becomes the culture.
 
The cost isn't emotional.
It's operational.
 
Here's what regulated leadership
actually looks like in practice:
 
1. You are predictable
Not in outcomes.
In demeanor.
No one should scan your mood
before deciding to speak.
 
2. You give feedback without cutting
Direct words.
Clear expectations.
No public corrections disguised as standards.
 
3. You share the spotlight
You name the work.
You name the person.
Credit isn't a resource to hoard.
 
4. You protect honest signals
If bad news gets punished,
bad news stops arriving.
By then, it's too late.
 
5. You respect shared time
Prepared. On time. Finished when you said.
Keeping people waiting
is a signal, not a schedule.
 
6. You repair quickly
No speeches.
No spin.
Just ownership.
 
7. You act the same when you need nothing
Your team is always watching for this one.
They will find the answer.
 
The biology is real:
your nervous system is contagious.
 
When you're regulated,
your team can think.
When you're dysregulated,
they're just managing you.
 
That's not leadership.
That's a tax on your organization.
 
People will forgive mistakes.
 
They rarely forgive a leader
who made them feel like a variable.
 
♻️ Repost to help your network.
🔔 Follow Elijah Szasz for tips on staying grounded in the age of AI.

The worst leaders I've worked with

had one thing in common.

They confused control with power.

They ran tight ships.
Had every metric dialed.
Never missed a deadline.

And their best people kept leaving.

Here's what took me years to learn:

Control is a grip.
Power is a lift.

The leaders who actually move markets
aren't the ones white-knuckling
every decision and outcome.

They're the ones who make people
feel safe enough to tell the truth,
free enough to take real risks,
and seen enough to stay.

Your team doesn't need a warden.
They need someone who creates
the conditions for them to be dangerous.

Not dangerous to themselves.
Dangerous to the competition.

That requires you to loosen the grip.

→ Stop hoarding information
→ Stop reacting to mistakes with heat
→ Stop confusing compliance with loyalty

The most powerful person in the room
is rarely the loudest.

They're the one who made everyone else
feel safe enough to speak.

Calm is contagious.
So is fear.
You get to choose which one you spread.

P.S. Who was the leader that made you
feel powerful, not small?

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You don't lose people overnight.
 
You lose them slowly.
 
It starts when effort goes unnoticed.
 
When consistency is expected,
but appreciation is optional.
 
Most leaders focus on replacement math.
 
Hiring speed.
Salary bands.
Ramp time.
 
That's the obvious cost.
 
The real cost shows up earlier.
 
→ When trust erodes quietly
→ When motivation turns into compliance
→ When commitment becomes transactional
→ When people stop bringing their best
 
Once loyalty breaks, everything gets expensive.
 
Time.
Energy.
Focus.
Reputation.
 
Perks don't prevent this.
 
Neither do slogans.
 
What actually works:
 
→ Treating people with baseline respect
↳ Not as a reward, but as a standard
 
→ Paying attention before performance dips
↳ Disengagement is loud if you're listening
 
→ Valuing contribution while it's happening
↳ Not only during exit interviews
 
→ Creating stability people don't want to escape
↳ Safety fuels performance
 
→ Remembering that consistency is earned
↳ Not assumed
 
Most departures aren't caused by better offers.
 
They're caused by accumulated disregard.
 
If you want people to stay,
make staying feel sensible.
 
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The busiest person on your team shouldn't be you. 

That's not leadership. That's a trap.

That line should make leaders uncomfortable.
Because it exposes a quiet truth.

If progress depends on your presence,
you didn’t build capability.
You built dependency.

Most bottlenecks don’t look like problems.
They look like dedication.

→ Always available
→ Always fixing
→ Always stepping in


It feels responsible.
It feels supportive.
It feels like leadership.

Until you step away.
And things stall.

That’s the signal.

Not of commitment,
but of control.

Managing keeps things moving today.
Leading ensures they move tomorrow.

When everything routes through you:
↳ Decisions slow
↳ Confidence erodes
↳ Initiative fades
↳ Growth caps out

The issue isn’t effort.
It’s architecture.

Leadership is a system,
not a performance.

Three reframes that unlock real leadership:

1. Design for absence
↳ If you vanished for a week, what breaks?

2. Transfer judgment, not tasks
↳ Ownership beats instructions every time

3. Measure outcomes, not activity
↳ Motion hides fragility, results reveal it

If your team can’t move without you,
they’re not empowered.
They’re waiting.

Strong leaders don’t disappear.
They become unnecessary.

That’s not neglect.
That’s success.

Look at your week.
What still needs you there to work?
That’s your next leadership problem to solve.

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AI is about to break organic content distribution.

And most people don’t see the window yet.

Everyone’s arguing about AI writing posts.

That’s not the shift.

The shift is distribution.

For years, organic growth was simple:
→ Write good content  
→ Stay consistent  
→ Learn the platform  
→ Hope the algorithm cooperates  

Now we’re entering a different phase.

AI can:

→ Analyze what formats are spiking in real time  
→ Generate variations fast enough to test daily  
→ Personalize outbound at scale  
→ Repurpose one idea into 20 native formats  
→ Identify overlooked audience pockets  

That creates arbitrage.

Not forever.

For a window.

Here’s how this usually plays out:

1. Early adopters exploit distribution gaps  
2. Platforms tighten the rails  
3. Loopholes close  
4. New surface area opens  

It’s cat and mouse.

But the cycles are accelerating.

The real opportunity?

Not replacing your voice.

Building systems around it.

→ AI as research analyst  
→ AI as distribution engine  
→ AI as testing machine  
→ You as strategist  

The creators who win won’t be the loudest.

They’ll be the most systematic.

Organic isn’t dying.

It’s becoming a systems game.

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The harsh truth about growth:
 
It’s painful, but staying stuck hurts more.
 
Staying stuck feels safer,
but it comes at a hidden cost:
 
→ It drains your energy.
→ It steals your potential.
→ It keeps you locked in a cycle of regret.
 
Here’s a framework to escape:
 
Acknowledge the pain
↳ Growth hurts, but it’s temporary
 
Choose a small step
↳ Don’t tackle the mountain; focus on the first hill.
 
Reframe the challenge
↳ Every difficult moment is proof that you’re evolving.
 
Lean into it.
Every step forward compounds.
The discomfort of growth is worth the reward.
 
P.S. Next time fear of change holds you back, ask yourself this:
“Which pain am I choosing, growth or regret?”
 
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Most leaders I know are chasing wealth.

While quietly ignoring the only 3 assets that matter.

You can stack wins for decades.
Grow revenue.
Build teams.
Expand influence.

And still feel like something’s missing.

Because real wealth was never about the scoreboard.

It’s about three things most people treat as optional.

1. Your health.

→ Do you wake up with energy?
→ Do you protect your sleep like it’s sacred?
→ Can you train your body without breaking it?

If your business is thriving
but your body is deteriorating,

You’re not rich.
You’re renting success.

2. Your peace.

→ Can you sit in silence without anxiety?
→ Do you trust your own judgment?
→ Can you detach from outcomes?

If your mind never turns off,
the money won’t make it quieter.

Peace isn’t soft.
It’s a competitive advantage.

3. Your people.

→ Do you have relationships without performance?
→ Can you be honest without losing status?
→ Do your closest friends make you better?

Influence is public.
Wealth is private.

A small circle of solid humans
beats a large audience of spectators.

Here’s the reframe most leaders resist:

If your health is intact,
your mind is steady,
and your circle is strong,

You are already ahead.

Everything else is a bonus.

The smartest operators I know
don’t optimize for more.

They defend these three at all costs.

Because once they’re gone,
no amount of success can buy them back.

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Your inner circle is your competitive advantage.

Guard it like your most important asset.

Most people treat their network
like a numbers game.

More connections, more reach, more noise.

But the people closest to you
are shaping your ceiling every single day.

The curious ones keep you sharp.

The driven ones raise the bar.

The grateful ones keep you grounded.

The real ones tell you what you need to hear,
not what you want to hear.

The ones still growing
are proof that growth never stops.

That's the tribe worth protecting.

Not the loudest people in the room.
Not the ones with the most followers.
Not the ones who only show up
when things are going well.

Here's the law:

You will become the average
of the five people you protect most.

Choose deliberately.
Audit often.
Prune without guilt.

Your business can survive a bad quarter.

It can't survive the wrong people
in your inner circle.

♻️ Repost to help your network.
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Screens are rooms now.

And most founders are ignoring that.

In-person will always matter.

But attention is the real currency.

A screen holds attention.

A podcast.
An Instagram feed.
A blog post.
A YouTube clip.

If someone is spending 10 minutes with you,
that’s a room.

The difference?

You can’t clone yourself for conferences.

But you can replicate yourself on camera.

That’s leverage.

Look at any high-output founder.

They don’t just “post content.”
They build distribution machines.

→ Production
↳ Cameras, editors, studios

→ Distribution
↳ Multi-platform clipping
↳ Team-run accounts
↳ Paid amplification

→ Repetition
↳ You see them everywhere
↳ Because it’s intentional

And here’s the part most people ignore:

Scale costs money.

Serious production isn’t free.
Distribution isn’t free.
Consistency at volume isn’t free.

You can talk in a room for 50 people.

Or invest in systems
that put you in 50,000 feeds.

AI makes this even more interesting.

Because now:

→ Scripts can be drafted faster
→ Clips can be generated automatically
→ Personas can extend your voice
→ Workflows can publish while you sleep

The Renaissance of in-person is coming.

But the founders who win
will understand both rooms.

The physical one.
And the digital one.

Build rapport.

Then build systems.

One scales.
One compounds.

Use both.

I had a great time recording this week's "AI at Work" with Kevin Williams. Listen to the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Link is in the first comment. 

♻️ Repost to help your network.
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You don’t need a perfect plan.  

You need a first move.

Progress isn’t built  
in polished moments.

It’s built in messy starts.

Most people delay action  
because they want certainty.

They want the full roadmap.  
The flawless strategy.  
The guarantee it will work.

That’s not leadership.

That’s fear disguised as preparation.

Every meaningful thing I’ve built  
started incomplete.

→ The first version was rough.  
→ The first conversation was awkward.  
→ The first hire was uncertain.  

But action clarified what thinking never could.

Here’s the shift:

1. Clarity follows motion.  
You don’t think your way into confidence.  
You act your way into it.

2. Imperfect reps create real capability.  
You can’t optimize what doesn’t exist.  
Ship first. Refine second.

3. Waiting feels safe.  
But it quietly erodes momentum.  
Small steps compound. Hesitation does too.

Perfection is a moving target.

Progress is a decision.

The first draft.  
The first pitch.  
The first uncomfortable ask.

That’s where momentum lives.

You don’t need everything figured out.

You need enough courage  
to begin.

What’s one step you could take today  
without having it all solved?

♻️ Repost to help your network.
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Ever feel like everyone else has it all figured out?
 
Spoiler alert: Nobody really does.
 
Each one of us
 
→ navigate struggles
→ endure suffering
→ keep growing
 
But here’s the thing:
 
Growth doesn’t require perfection.
It only requires showing up.
 
Especially when things feel messy.
 
The next time you catch yourself
comparing your journey to someone else’s,
ask yourself:
 
"Would I be willing to trade my entire life for theirs?"
 
→ Your failures
→ Your triumphs
→ Your great loves
→ Your great losses
 
If you can't answer with an unequivocal "yes"
(and who can honestly agree to this??)
then why compare one piece of it?
 
Your story isn't over until it's over.
 
✅ What’s one small action I can take today to move forward?
✅ What’s one habit I can build to create momentum?
 
Progress doesn’t come from waiting for the perfect moment.
It comes from doing the best you can, right now.
There's nothing to "figure out."
Just a life of growth to live.
 
P.S. We're all in this together. Literally. Enjoy the ride.
 
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Ty Hoesgen

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taplio

The Battle

Ty Hoesgen

Elijah Szasz

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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);}Ty Hoesgen's LinkedIn Performance

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