Copyright Fast Company
Successful leadership isn’t just about what you do—it’s also about how you think and the habits you form. Oftentimes, leaders get stuck in outdated mindsets that limit their vision and ability to lead with relevance. If you’re responsible for running a business but not confident in growth, it’s time to challenge what you’ve been telling yourself. Below, the Fast Company Executive Board members offer their own tried and true tips that outweigh old habits and negative thought processes. Here’s how to overcome and create a better impact moving forward. 1. EDUCATE YOURSELF DAILY. Business leaders will thrive if they spend time being a little less ignorant. I believe we are all ignorant. However, if we can learn just one thing a day and read a little every day, we will see that knowledge accumulates. I saw a shift in myself and my business when I began to learn incrementally daily. Spending more time to educate myself transformed my mindset and my career. –Richard McWhorter,SRM Private Wealth 2. GET IN TUNE WITH YOUR DRIVERS AND DRAINERS. Understanding my own drivers and drainers helped me build my schedule accordingly. Once I realized that I needed to block time after a hectic week of meetings or travel, it gave me the space I needed to become a better leader. Everyone has moments they’re on and moments they need to be off. Aligning with your team around that will improve work relationships and support better outcomes for all. –Caitlin MacGregor,Plum Subscribe to the Daily newsletter.Fast Company's trending stories delivered to you every day Privacy Policy | Fast Company Newsletters 3. WAIT 24-HOURS BEFORE MAKING A FINAL DECISION. When in doubt, sleep on it. As a business leader, there are times when you need to make an immediate, best judgment decision. But some decisions require more intentional, conscious thought. No one bats a thousand, but certain consequential decisions deserve a 24-hour quiet period before coming to a resolution. –Bryan Buck,ON Partners 4. CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR. For a long time, my business partner and I let ego get in the way, which created unnecessary friction between us. Once we learned to set that aside and truly operate as a team, everything changed. Our relationship strengthened, collaboration became easier, and the business started to flourish. Letting go of ego helped us unlock a much greater level of trust, alignment, and success together. –Toni Pisano,PortPro Technologies, Inc. 5. REALIZE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP. I used to treat management and leadership as the same thing. That mindset kept me from thriving. Learning when to manage processes and when to lead people changed everything. It built trust, strengthened relationships, and allowed my team to thrive. Letting go of control freed me to focus on vision and long-term impact. –Nisha Anand,Dream.Org 6. CONSIDER DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES. A key game-changer was when I stopped seeing resistance as an obstacle. Instead, I began to reframe it as a source of insight and intelligence. This was critical to driving my impact as a change leader. –Amy Radin,Pragmatic Innovation Partners LLC 7. INVEST IN HIRING THE RIGHT STAFF WITHOUT HESITATION. When I stopped waiting for new sales to justify the next hire, I began hiring for growth. I still based my hiring decisions on the business metric that each dollar spent on headcount needed to return a three times multiple to the bottom line. However, when I began reinvesting the profits into the right staff earlier, our growth rocketed. –Steve Dion,Dion Leadership 8. CREATE SPACE FOR YOUR TEAM TO GROW INDEPENDENTLY. For a long time, I believed I had to control every detail to succeed. That limited collaboration and strained relationships. Letting go of that mindset allowed me to trust my team, create space for new ideas, and strengthen partnerships. In a consulting company, our most critical product is people, so I now ensure that at least half of my time is spent coaching and developing them. –Avy Punwasee,Revenue Management Labs 9. EMBRACE ‘PROGRESS OVER PERFECTION.’ Learning to embrace a “progress over perfection” mindset has been transformative. I give my team room to execute and collaborate, even if their approach differs from mine. This creates speed to market and often leads to breakthrough solutions I wouldn’t have considered alone. Sometimes the best creative direction comes from stepping back and letting diverse perspectives drive the process forward. –Jaime Bettencourt,Mood Media 10. BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR RESOURCES. Adopting an abundance mindset is crucial. We are wired to compete for resources and rewards. The reality is that the more you share, support, and give, the more you ultimately get in return. –George Pesansky,MyBlendedLearning.com 11. ASK QUESTIONS TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE. Earlier in my career, I thought leadership was about being the smartest person in the room with all the answers. Over time, I learned that the best results come when you admit you don’t know everything and instead listen, ask for input, and invite feedback. That shift built trust, empowered others, and helped create a stronger, high-performing team culture. –Jani Hirvonen,Google advertisement 12. LEAN INTO THE RESPONSIBILITY OF INFLUENCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY. Going from the “work-buddy” to the boss required a real mindset shift. I had to let go of certain familiar dynamics to fully embrace the responsibility of influence and accountability. In the process, I learned to lead with empathy, drawing on my first-hand experience of past duties while embracing my ability to make actionable changes. –Larry Brinker Jr.,BRINKER 13. PRACTICE AUTHENTICITY. Early in my career, I cared way too much about what other people thought of me. I second-guessed my ideas, over-edited my responses, and spent more time polishing than participating. Letting go of that mindset changed everything—I now share more openly, contribute more confidently, and as a result, my impact, my relationships, and my career have grown proportionately. –Barry Lowenthal,Inuvo, Inc. 14. KNOW YOUR WORTH AND ADDED VALUE. Rates are always a question, especially for new business owners. But once I focused on the value the client receives, the conversation shifted. Pricing became a reflection of the solution, not a negotiation. When the work delivers real impact, the rate becomes a signal, not a hurdle. This mindset changed everything for me—easy. –Beth Jannery,Titan Strategic Communications 15. DELVE INTO THE DATA. Many business leaders rely too much on instinct. Research shows that a shift to an insight-driven mindset—driven by data and professional advice—can unlock smarter growth and stronger collaboration. –Mark Valentino,Citizens 16. STAY RELEVANT WITH THE CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS. The mindset that once held me back was thinking, “We’ve always done it that way, so why should we change?” Change is a given in business. If you cling to the past, you will fall behind. The market will move like a train leaving the station—it departs whether you’re on it or not. Letting go built trust, sparked ideas, and reshaped my career. –Nicholas Wyman,IWSI America 17. LET GO OF PERFECTION. For many years, the thing that kept me from thriving was perfectionism. I thought every project had to be flawless before sharing it with anyone. Letting that go taught me that progress matters more than perfection. Once I embraced iteration, collaboration deepened, feedback flowed faster, and my career accelerated because I stopped holding back what could evolve thanks to other people’s input. –Volen Vulkov,Enhancv 18. TUNE INTO WHAT DRIVES YOUR TEAM’S PASSIONS. From day one, I believed in passion. What truly elevated our work was channeling each team member’s personal drive—whether in design, strategy, or technology—into the projects on the table. When people bring what excites them into the process, collaboration is stronger, creativity is higher, and the results consistently exceed expectations. –Goran Paun,ArtVersion 19. SHOW UP FOR YOUR TEAM’S ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS. I had a habit early in my career of skipping or canceling one-on-one meetings with my direct reports. Even when I conducted them, I was more focused on the work itself than the person’s development. Flipping my approach has resulted in much more productive relationships, deeper alignment on goals and outcomes, and mutually beneficial growth. –Tim Marklein,Big Valley Marketing 20. GIVE PEOPLE THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. I must assume people have the best of intentions. For nearly two decades, I navigated corporate politics, trying to understand colleagues’ motivations. Now, I assume good intentions and try to find a mutually beneficial path forward, unless I’m proven wrong. It can be transformative when you bring a positive or open view to a request or situation out of the gate. –Mack McKelvey,SalientMG
