Know Honesty

Your best salesperson will make your worst manager. There’s a name for how this happens. The Peter Principle, coined by Laurence Peter back in 1969. People rise on how good they are at their current job, until they hit one they’re bad at, and there they park. Every promotion is earned with skills the next level doesn’t even use. Your top closer crushes quota, so you make them sales manager. Selling, the thing they were elite at, isn’t the job anymore. The job is coaching, hard conversations, and living inside other people’s numbers. Different sport entirely. That promotion pulled your best rep out of the one thing they were great at and handed them a role nobody trained them for. What to do instead of defaulting to the title bump: → Build a track that pays for mastery, not just management. Your best doer should be able to out-earn a manager without ever running a team. → Promote for the next job, not the trophy for the last one. Look at whether they want that next role and could be great in it. Crushing a different job is a trap. → Say the quiet part out loud before they take the seat. “This is 70% things you’ve never done. Still want it?” Their answer tells you everything. Promoting someone to keep them is how you lose two people. The great rep you buried, and the team stuck under a boss who never wanted the job. The most honest thing you can do for a superstar is tell them the truth. You are elite right where you are, and up is not always up. Been here? Have you seen it happen? 👇🏻

West Michigan nice is killing your culture and relationships. You might be doing “West Michigan nice” if: ➡️ You say “sounds good” when you actually disagree ➡️ You avoid bringing up problems for weeks ➡️ You complain to everyone except the person who can actually fix it ➡️ You say “we should grab coffee sometime” with zero intention of scheduling it ➡️ You end difficult conversations with “well, whatever works” instead of working it out Here’s the thing about West Michigan nice: it’s not actually nice. It’s fake nice. And it’s robbing you of real connection. Somewhere along the way we were taught that keeping the peace was more important than telling the truth. But what we’re actually doing is creating more problems for ourselves we’ll have to dig out of later. When we can’t access the true condition because everyone’s too “nice” to say what’s really happening, we end up solving fake problems while the real ones fester and infect our culture. Instead, we need to care enough to have the hard conversation. The most loving thing you can do for someone is be honest with them, even when it’s uncomfortable. What would change if you stopped being West Michigan nice and started actually loving those around you?

If we talked to NFL players the way we talk to employees in business... They would never win a single game. 🏈 NFL Coach: “Your release was .3 seconds too slow. That’s why the defender closed the gap. Let’s run it again and focus on exploding off the line.” 📊 Business Manager: “You need to improve your performance.” See the difference? NFL teams review film within hours. They analyze every play. They give specific, immediate feedback on what worked and what didn’t. They don’t wait for an annual review to tell someone they’ve been running the wrong route for 8 months. In business? We’re vague, delayed, and avoid the hard conversations. We say things like: “You need to be more proactive.” “Your communication could be better.” “You’re not quite meeting expectations.” What does that even MEAN? If you want your team to perform like champions, you need to coach like championship coaches do. Specific. Motivating. Honest. Every single week. What is something you want to be said as a coach?

You want to change the energy in a room? Try this: scented markers. Every time I pass them out in a workshop, something shifts. People smile. They get nostalgic. They argue (passionately) about which scent is best. It’s fun, but it’s also strategic. When the brain gets sensory input it doesn’t expect, it wakes up. Serious conversation doesn’t always need a serious setup. Sometimes it just needs a marker that smells like green apple. 🍏 Which marker scent was your favorite? Mine is blueberry.

Your leadership team is dysfunctional... ...and everyone knows, even you. Leaders sit there thinking, “hmmm, I have the right people. They match our culture. They perform ok. What is missing?” The single biggest issue with team’s is... COMMUNICATION. Healthy teams say what needs to be said in the room where it matters. 💪🏻 We don’t need 5 rocket scientists, or PhDs with 14 letters behind their names. When they can’t communicate effectively, what good is that knowledge? We need good old fashioned clean communication to exist in the spaces humans exist. The best team members ask the hard questions others won’t ask. They hold each other accountable without drama or hesitation. They disagree openly and commit fully. Here’s the real game-changer (and it starts with YOU): When you and your leadership team model real communication that is open and honest, it cascades through your entire organization. Your people start speaking up in meetings. Problems get solved faster. Trust goes through the roof. Stop hoping your team will figure it out. Start building the communication skills that make healthy teams possible. Agree? Can’t stand what I just shared? Comment below and let’s have a good old fashion conversation.

I’m not trying to be rude, but... you’ve used this exact line to be rude before. We all have. Whatever comes after that little disclaimer is usually at least a bit rude. The phrase is doing something kind of sneaky. It hands us permission to say the hard thing without care and love for the person on the other side. We do it with honesty too. “I’m just being honest,” right before something unkind, as if honesty and kindness can’t share a sentence. They can, though. The same true thing can be said in a way the other person is able to hear. That takes a little more effort, which is exactly the part we skip when we reach for the warning label. And if you need a disclaimer before you say it, that’s usually the moment to slow down and find a kinder way to say the true thing.