LEAD-N-LIFE LLC

Leadership is more than just a career skill—it's a lifelong journey that shapes who you are at home, in your community, and within yourself. Our mission is to transform the conventional approach to leadership development by focusing on the holistic growth of individuals, helping them conquer their fears, follow their passions, and unlock their true potential.

We believe that leadership is not just about managing others but about mastering yourself. At LEAD-N-LIFE, we challenge the status quo by offering tools and guidance to help you become a better leader in all aspects of life. Whether it's leading your family with empathy, inspiring your team at work, or pursuing your own purpose with determination, we are here to support your journey every step of the way.

Our programs are designed to cultivate empathetic, purpose-driven leaders who are equipped to inspire and lead the next generation. We are committed to helping you strive for greatness, not just in your career, but in every facet of your life.

Founder

United States Army Reserve

Transportation Manager

Tesla

Production Control Supervisor

Arcosa Inc.

DC Operations Manager

Alterman, Inc.

Warehouse Team Lead

The TJX Companies, Inc.

Operations Supervisor

US Army

As an Army Leader, I was responsible for training, mentoring, and guiding soldiers through intense challenges, both in training environments and during deployments. I led small teams - medium teams, ensuring they developed the skills, discipline, and resilience necessary to succeed under pressure. My role involved not only tactical and technical instruction but also fostering personal growth, helping each team member push through obstacles, build confidence, and overcome adversity.

In this position, I learned to assess individual strengths, identify areas for improvement, and create personalized plans for growth. 

I now help individuals navigate mindset challenges, empowering them to leverage their unique skills and experiences to overcome toxic environments or feelings of being stuck, and discover their best next step.

My experience leading teams through deployments and complex challenges gives me the insight to coach individuals through the complexities of their careers & lives. I support professionals as they overcome career roadblocks, rediscover their purpose, and strategically position themselves for success, just as I did with my soldiers.

Transportation Supervisor

Movements Supervisor

Small Group Leader

Leader | ✔️Goal Getter | 📦 Thinking outside the Box to achieve MORE | Passionate about helping other's realize their potential!

Let’s be honest, most people didn’t build careers or companies.
They built survival systems.

We chase titles, scale businesses, and check all the boxes.
Until one day, the system we built starts breaking us.

I know because I’ve lived both.
Military. Corporate. Executive Leadership. Now consulting.

On paper? Success.
In reality? Misalignment. Burnout. The quiet question: “Is this it?”

Today, I run LEAD-N-LIFE, a clarity and operations consultancy helping:
🔹 High-achieving professionals pivot into aligned, purposeful careers
🔹 Small business owners streamline operations, build systems, and prepare for scale or sale

What I’ve learned (and now coach + consult):
✔ Burnout isn’t a weakness, it’s a misalignment
✔ Hustle in the wrong direction burns faster than doing nothing
✔ You can’t scale a company or career until you’re aligned with it
✔ Clarity is built, not found

🧭 My two core offers:
• Profession to Purpose Cohort – A bold group coaching program to rewrite your career with confidence
• Fractional Ops Consulting – SOPs, leadership systems, and exit-prep for small business owners buried in their own growth.

If you’re navigating misalignment, whether it’s in your career, company, or identity—this is the work I do every day.

No fluff. No famed performance. 
Just clarity, systems, and perspective.

Reach out if you're ready to get unstuck (personally or professionally).

– John
www.professiontopurpose.com
www.lead-n-life.com

John Martinez

What’s the real goal in life for men?                                                                                             

Start a million-dollar company?

Rise to greatness?

Become a star athlete?

Devote yourself to something bigger?

Those things are good…

But they’re not it.
______________________________

No one told us growing up that one of the greatest victories a man will ever experience is this:

 💯Marrying the person who will go to war with you. 💯 

Because what are all the wins worth, if you can’t share them with someone
who truly sees you?

Not the version you present to the world…

but YOU!
______________________________

When my wife read her vows, she said a line I’ll never forget:

“I saw the demons you were fighting, and I will continue to be by your side as you battle them.”

Damn…

I felt that in my soul.

It brought tears to my eyes right there at the altar.
______________________________

No matter what God has planned for the rest of my life.

I know He’s already given me one of the greatest blessings He could:

💖 My lifeline.

💖 My partner.

💖 My “ride or die.”

The woman He chose to walk with me as I step into HIS purpose.
______________________________

11/11/2025: I reached a milestone goal in my life.

I married my Love Buttons. 🤍(Yes, that's my nickname for her 🤣) 

To the men reading this:

Chase your dreams.

Build big things.

Lead boldly.

Pursue purpose with everything in you.

But don’t forget...

one of the strongest moves you’ll ever make

is choosing a partner who sees your storms…

and still chooses you through them.
______________________________

💬 To the married men, engaged men, and dating ones, share your wisdom: what’s one thing relationships/marriage has taught you about yourself?

#MensLeadership #Marriage #MenOfFaith #LifeMilestones

Leadership. Faith. Alignment. | Guiding Men to Rebuild What Success Can’t Fix

GOD woke me up today...

That's it...

Another day to spend time with family...
Another day to appreciate what I have...
Another day to fulfill his WILL...

May GOD bless you and your family. 

Happy Thanksgiving, LinkedIn Family....

I feel called...
not ready,
not perfect,
but called...

To help #men realign with what success can’t fix.
______________________________

Here’s a truth most men won’t admit out loud:

We’re terrified of losing the peace we worked so damn hard to find.

And why wouldn’t we be?

For many of us, that peace came after years of grinding, hurting, failing, rebuilding, praying, breaking down, and getting back up.

This weekend, I celebrated with my in-laws.
✅ Laughter.
✅ Family.
✅ Good food.
✅ Beautiful moments.

But inside…
I still battle the demons.

The silent ones:

“What if next year I’m not able to do this…”
“What if I’m not here…”
“What if I can’t be present…”

Men don’t talk about these thoughts, but we all have them.

And today, as I write this, I’m sitting with that fear.
______________________________

I have an event coming up this week, one that requires me to step outside my comfort zone…

To show up at a higher level…
To deliver.

And here’s what I’m realizing:

All men are scared.
______________________________

Some fear is loud.

Some fear is quiet.

Some is manageable.

Some is paralyzing.
______________________________

But every man carries something:

“Letting my family down.”

“Not being disciplined enough.”

“Not providing.”

“Making the wrong move.”

“Dying before my purpose is fulfilled.”
______________________________

But here’s what GOD has been whispering to me lately:

Your peace doesn’t mean you won’t feel fear.

It means your faith in Me is stronger than the fear in you.
______________________________

Presence doesn’t pull you out of the fire.
Presence keeps you steady inside it.

Because the fire isn’t there to destroy you.
It’s there to refine you.
______________________________

“For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.” – Psalm 66:10

Today, I’ll ask you the same question I asked myself as I sat and wrote this:

Where is Jesus holding you in the fire?

Not to harm you, but to refine you?

💬 What is your peace right now, and how are you protecting it?

#FaithDrivenMen #RefinedByFire #LeadershipThroughFaith

P.S. My wife wouldn't keep her eyes open in every picture we took 🤣

Men, here’s a framework I wish someone had taught me 10 years ago.

A framework for the driven. The ambitious.

The men who carry more than they say out loud.

Because...

Most of us were trained to believe our value comes from our performance.

👉🏽 What can you provide?
👉🏽 How hard do you work?
👉🏽 How much can you carry?
👉🏽 Somebody else is grinding harder? Then push more.

Until one day… something hits you.

Something small, but deeply real.

I caught myself missing out...

Not because I didn’t care, but because I was performing instead of being present.

And I’m not alone.

A man I coached said this:

“I work 90+ hours during my on-call week. I try to make up for it the next weekend, but the exhaustion is deep. I don’t want to live like this anymore.”

Men, listen to me carefully:

You are already loved.

By God.
By your family.
By the people who see the man behind the pressure.

Your job is not to perform your way into worth.
Your job is to discern your way back into alignment.

And that’s why I built this:

The 5-Minute Discernment Model (For Faith-Driven Men)

A simple tool to help you slow down, listen, and respond from PEACE, not pressure.

1️⃣ Calm Your Body (Presence)
Hand over your chest.
3–3–5 breathing. (3-second inhale, hold 3 seconds, 5-second exhale)
Prayer: “Lord, steady my spirit.”
This shifts you to the present moment. 

2️⃣ Name the Situation (Awareness)
“If I don’t do X, what do I fear will happen?”
Dump every thought for 30 seconds.
Most men discover their fear is driving the wheel.

3️⃣ Test the Motive (Peace vs Pressure)
Your body tells the truth before your mind.
Ask yourself: Is this urgency from God, or from fear?
Do I feel calm and relaxed or tense and pressured? 

4️⃣ Test the Alignment
Does this action:
 ✔ support your calling?
 ✔ steward what God gave you?
 ✔ strengthen or strain your foundation (faith, family, health)?

5️⃣ Check for Confirmation
Does the thought bring peace or chaos?
Has God already given you signs?
Does Scripture support this move?

6️⃣ Interpret + Act
If it’s peace → move in faith.
If it’s pressure → pause.
If it’s both → move slowly, test lightly.

I used this framework multiple times this week, when fear tried to pull me away from the moments that matter.

And every time I paused to discern.

For me, it was moments like these:

✅ My daughter called me as I was working to show me her "silly win” at Target - finding the biggest Twizzler's. 
(I could have kept working, but rather stepped away to hear the story) 

✅ Pausing to call my son and grandson, just to say hi. 
(I could have kept working...) 

✅ My wife was singing in the kitchen while I was working…I sat with this moment for a bit and then got up and went to share this moment with her.

Men; use this tool.

It will show you where God wants your focus…
not where society tells you your worth should come from.

💬 What area of your life needs more discernment than pressure?
#FaithDrivenMen #LeadershipForMen #MasculineClarity

30,000 Corporate Amazon employees are being laid off.                                                                                                                                                                    

But for many, the hardest part isn’t the job loss, it’s the emotional fallout that comes after.

😮 Shock. 
😡 Anger. 
😑 Guilt. 
😵‍💫 Confusion. 
🤔 Reflection. 
😀 Hope.

These are the 6 emotional reactions to a layoff, and each one tells you where you are in the journey of rediscovering clarity and purpose.

I’ve coached clients + experienced them all myself.

and every time, it’s not the end of the story… 

It’s the beginning of their next chapter.

Swipe through this carousel for a guide on how to navigate each stage with purpose.

💬 Which stage have you experienced in your journey? 

#CareerTransition #LeadershipDevelopment #FaithDrivenLeadership

Clarity Coach for High-Achievers & Leaders in Transition

The 6 emotional reactions to job loss...and what to do.

Sometimes peace is forged in the storms we didn’t ask for...                                                                                                                                  

As Men, we’re used to pressure:

👉🏽 Carrying it 
👉🏽 Absorbing it
👉🏽 and somehow still finding a way to make things happen.

Honestly?

I wouldn’t want it any other way.

✅ I love being ambitious.
✅ Driven.
✅ Purposeful.
✅ Relentless when I need to be.
______________________________

But most men never admit:

We spend so much time handling the storms around us that we never deal with the storms inside us.

👉🏽 The pressure to perform.
👉🏽 The pressure to provide.
👉🏽 The pressure to control everything we can’t actually control.

And if you don’t learn to quiet that storm, it will eventually quiet you.
______________________________

Here are 3 simple practices to help you reconnect with peace, and yourself:

1️⃣ Walk for 30 minutes. 
Alone. No music. No agenda. No “optimizing” the walk.
Just you and your thoughts.
Let them rise. Let them pass. Let them settle.

💯 Men forget how powerful silence can be.

2️⃣ Journal the truth, not the polished version.
This isn’t your spouse’s soft, reflective journal entry.
Write with honesty and grit.
Start with this question: 
“What control do I really have?”

💯 You’ll notice how much peace comes from surrender, not strategy.

3️⃣ Reconnect with the boy you used to be.
Build Legos.
Pick up Hot Wheels.
Sketch.
Play.
Do something with no goal, no productivity, no performance metric.

💯 We Men tend to forget how to just be...

It is not about the absence of storms but rather learning how to hear GOD’s voice through them.

💬 Which of these three practices will you try out? 

 #MentalClarity #LeadershipDevelopment #FaithDrivenMen

Losing a job can shake you...

You start questioning your worth, your plan, even GOD’s plan.

But what if your layoff isn’t rejection, it’s redirection?

We rush to rebuild what God is trying to replace.

We look for another title, another version of the same comfort.

But sometimes, He closes one door so you’ll finally notice the next one opening.

Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us: 
“For I know the plans I have for you… plans to prosper you and not to harm you.”

This isn’t the end of your story.

It’s the transition that leads to purpose.

#FaithAndWork #Purpose #CareerTransitions

Brad Smith highlights a truth I am well aware of. 

Leaders need guidance, training, and overall support. 

You can't expect success from someone who hasn't "done" the job. 

There is a difference between "theory" and real life. 

Brad is bringing that support and training for leaders and bridging that gap. 

This is something I have to support and get behind. 

#manufacturingleadership #leadershipdevelopment

Leadership, Health, and Life as a father of 3 | Engineering my life and helping others do the same in Leadership and Health. Fatherhood... send help!

“60% of new Managers fail.” Common stat ... but WHY?


From the CEB Global study:
6 out of 10 new Managers don’t make it past their first two years.

Add in data from Interact Harris:
39% don’t provide constructive feedback
51% don’t communicate with their team
52% “no time” to meet employees  
57% don’t give clear directions  
63% don’t recognize team member wins  

Woah! Starting to make more sense.

Now going deeper, WHY are these critical tasks often missed?

Stat time again: 
Because 43% of Managers with less than 1 year of experience report receiving... 𝗡𝗢 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.
None. Zero.

We would never hand a rookie a game-winning penalty kick with no practice.  
Yet we give keys, a title, and a team, and expect a new leader to handle manage performance, people, safety, quality, emotion, change...

Just stats?
Not from my experience. I’ve been the victim, the guilty party, and the witness.

When I ask “Why no training?” I receive the same answers. Those that match my observations in leading teams in manufacturing for 10+ years and conducting leadership training:
1. No time/resources  
2. Past training didn’t stick  
3. Not a priority at the top  

This is not a talent problem.
It’s a system problem.

And I want to fix it.
I want to help more leaders and the businesses in which they lead.

Here’s what I’m doing about it.

I’m launching the 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘆:
--> A practical, cohort-based program for Frontline Leaders - Supervisors, Leads, and emerging Leaders and Managers
--> Right here in 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮.

Real plants. Real teams. Real tools leaders can use that day:
- Clear expectations in writing
- Communication and feedback they’ll actually use
- Coaching and tough conversations
- Accountability without burning people out
- Support and community instead of sink-or-swim

If You are a local organization - or Leader - in Mercer County or the surrounding area and You want stronger support for Your Frontline Leaders, send me a message or comment “PLAYBOOK” and I’ll send flyer & more details.

Let’s stop hoping they figure it out.  
Let's build 𝗨𝗻𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀

_________
Pic of our Grand Lake during a run over the summer. Love the look when the lake is calm.

Most men don’t slow down until life forces them to.

We call it burnout, but what if that’s not the real problem?

In this live session, I’ll unpack the difference between being burned out (doing too much, needing rest and recovery) and being burnt-out (no amount of rest can help because you’re no longer aligned with what you’re doing).

As men, we’re taught to push harder when things get heavy. 

But what if the real test isn’t endurance, it’s discernment?

In this conversation, I’ll explore:
✅ The key difference between burnout and misalignment (burnt-out)

✅ Why men mistake exhaustion for purpose loss

✅ How to recognize when it’s time to rest vs. when it’s time to realign

✅ Practical steps to reset your clarity without losing your drive

I’ll also share a few personal insights from my own journey,  the moment I realized my “hustle” had become a form of hiding, and how peace was only found once I began aligning my work back to my faith and calling.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, drained, or unsure what’s next, this session is for you.

Because sometimes, rest isn’t what you need.

Realignment is.

💬 Join me live, and let’s talk about how faith, purpose, and peace intersect in the storms we didn’t ask for, but are called to grow through.

#FaithDrivenLeadership #MenOfFaith #LeadershipDevelopment #CareerClarity #PurposeWork

Ernest Sexton, DML, Jared McClinton and 5 other attendees

Burnout vs. Burnt-Out: Why Rest Isn’t Always the Answer

Today I didn’t feel like stepping into the gym.
I tried to think of every excuse not to.

😴 “I deserve a break.”
🤔 “It won’t hurt to take a day off.”
😕 “Just relax today.”

Meanwhile my mind was everywhere:
🈺 Business.
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family.
💰 Money.
🙏🏽 Purpose.
💎 Pressure.

And honestly?

It felt easier to avoid all of it.
______________________________

But...

There’s a difference between resting and running away.

I wasn’t tired.

I wasn’t sore.

I wasn’t preventing injury.

I was just trying to avoid myself.

Trying to escape the noise in my own head.
______________________________

Men are taught to “push through everything.”

And yes, we do have a responsibility to lead, to provide, to protect, to walk in the purpose GOD called us to.

But strength isn’t just pushing harder.

Strength is learning to discern:

👉 When God is pushing you to grow

 vs.

 👉 When God is telling you to slow down
______________________________

Today, He wasn’t telling me to slow down.

He was teaching me something else:

That I’m strong, but I’m also fragile.

And I still have a lot to learn.

✅ So I went into my garage...

Not because I felt like it, but because I refused to run from myself at that moment.

If you’re reading this, I hope it inspires you to pause before your next task, challenge, or obstacle and ask:

“What is God trying to teach me here?”

Sometimes the struggle isn’t a sign to stop or even slow down; but rather, It’s a sign to pay closer attention to what's really going on.

#FaithDrivenMen #LeadershipDevelopment #MentalStrength

GOD never asked you to carry your whole life by yourself.

But somewhere along the way…

you started believing you had to.

And that belief is costing a lot of men their peace.

THE WEIGHT WE CARRY MINI-SERIES: Issue #1: The Pressure You Put On Yourself

If you’ve been carrying more than GOD asked you to…

You’re going to want to read this.

#mensexpectations #mensmentalhealth #menspurpose

THE WEIGHT WE CARRY: A Mini-Series for Faith-Driven Men (Issue 1 of 4: Field Notes on Faith, Pressure & Purpose) You ever notice how nobody has to tel

Open article: The Pressure You Put On Yourself by John Martinez • 3 min read

I thought I was doing everything right.

✅ Praying.
✅ Journaling.
✅ Exercising.
✅ Trusting God.

Then I found myself on the floor of my bedroom having a panic attack.

Today’s newsletter is the most honest thing I’ve written in a while.

👉 The Noise That Kills Clarity

For the faith-driven man who’s been wrestling with silent pressure.

Full article below. 👇

THE WEIGHT WE CARRY - MINI-SERIES Issue 2 of 4: Field Notes on Faith, Pressure & Purpose There’s a kind of noise men carry that no one else sees. Not 

Open article: The Noise That Kills Clarity by John Martinez • 4 min read

Faith doesn’t replace effort.
It refines it. 💪🏽                                                                                                                                                                                                      

I had this reflection today:
I trust God…

But sometimes, I’ve used faith as an excuse to wait, when God was actually calling me to work.

I’ve gone through several transitions in my entrepreneurial journey.

I’m still going through one right now.

Some seasons, I had to step back and reflect, then the answer came.
Other times, I had to move first,  and the answer met me in motion.

There’s a tension most faith-driven men feel:

We say, “GOD’s got me,” but deep down, we’re afraid to move until every sign lines up.

Because the risks are high for us.

I’ve been there.

Praying for clarity and waiting for peace.

But peace doesn’t always come before obedience.

Sometimes faith is what you bring while you build, not what you wait for before you begin.

Having faith isn’t always stillness.

Sometimes it’s movement, showing up in motion, despite not knowing how it’ll all work out.

(I’m living that truth today.)

Faith gives you direction.

Work gives that faith a pulse.

As James wrote:
“Faith without works is dead.” — James 2:17

God doesn’t bless idle belief. He blesses obedient action.

If you’ve been praying for a breakthrough but haven’t taken the first step,  maybe the work is the answer to your prayer.

💬 What’s one area in your life right now where you need to show up in faith and put in the work?
#FaithDrivenLeadership #MenOfFaith #PurposeWork

Most men aren’t afraid of failure anymore.
They’re afraid of losing the peace they finally found.

I spoke with a man in a leadership role last week.

He wasn’t talking about money, promotions, or titles.

He said, “I’m scared of being consumed by work again, of losing the peace I’ve worked so hard to regain.”

And I felt that.

Because I’ve been there, and still fight those battles from time to time.

This morning was a small reminder.

I was batching content, writing, filming, and planning.

Then an opportunity came up:

Take a walk with my wife and dog… or keep working?

I asked myself:

“Am I responding to my day from alignment, or am I acting for performance?”

👉🏽 I went on the walk.

When you start rebuilding your peace after years of pressure, you protect it like it’s oxygen.

But the world will keep whispering;

“Just one more project. One more late night. One more win.”

That’s how #men drift right back into the exhaustion they swore they’d never repeat.

Peace isn’t something you find once and keep forever.

It’s something you must steward daily, through boundaries, reflection, and obedience to what God already told you.

The truth?

God doesn’t call you to grind harder.

He calls you to guard what HE’s given you.

“The peace of GOD, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:7

Your job is to protect that peace, not perform your way out of it.

If you’ve felt that tension between faith and performance, you’re not alone.

The same drive that built your success can destroy your peace if it’s not aligned with your calling.

💬 What’s one way you protect your peace while still showing up as a leader?

#FaithDrivenMen #PurposeWork #LeadershipDevelopment 

P.S. Take more walks with your spouse; it will help you connect deeper. 
(Our walk Friday at the San Antonio Riverwalk, had to get a Milo's Tea👍🏽)

Most men don’t stop long enough to notice the moments God is trying to show them something.

In the first issue of The Unstuck Dispatch:

I shared a story about my dog rolling in a muddy patch of grass…
Not because it was deep.
Not because it was logical.

But because it reminded me that most men can’t remember the last time they loved a moment enough to just roll in it.

We’re so focused on the next step, the next goal, the next obligation…
that we miss the simple miracles right under our feet.

That article struck a nerve.

Men messaged me saying:
“I needed that reminder.”
“I forgot how to slow down.”

But next week… we’re going deeper.

Because sometimes the problem isn’t that a man doesn’t see joy.

It’s that he can’t hear anything at all.

Tuesday (11/25) @ 8:00 am: 
I’m releasing Issue #2 of my new mini-series inside The Unstuck Dispatch:

The Weight We Carry - Field Notes on Faith, Pressure & Purpose

The topic?

 👉🏽The Noise That Kills Clarity.

The mental static.
The pressure.
The expectations.
The spiritual chaos that builds until your mind goes quiet… in the worst way.

This one is raw, honest, and vulnerable (for me)

It’s the reality most men hide behind discipline and strength.

If you’re a faith-driven man who has felt the weight lately…

you’ll want to read this.

Drops Tuesday, 11/25 at 8 AM CT.

P.S. Check the comments to Subscribe to The Unstuck Dispatch below & be notified when it drops...

When life gets loud, what do you struggle with most?

Discipline didn’t fix my life; awareness did.

For a long time, I thought more structure was the answer.

Wake up earlier. 
Grind harder. 
Push through.

But discipline without direction only creates exhaustion.

I was doing everything “right,” yet moving further from peace.

The truth is, discipline keeps you busy,

but awareness keeps you moving towards alignment.

When you slow down long enough to notice what GOD is revealing,

Clarity starts to show up.

If this hit you, pause today before you push.

That moment of awareness might change everything.

#buildingclarity #pauseandreflect #awarenessnothustle

Most of the pressure you feel isn’t coming from your job, your family, or your responsibilities.

It’s coming from you...

From the expectations you’ve been carrying alone…

in silence…for years.

Tomorrow...

I’m dropping Issue #1 of a new mini-series inside The Unstuck Dispatch:

👉 The Weight We Carry: Field Notes on Faith, Pressure & Purpose
 Issue #1: The Pressure You Put On Yourself

If you’re a faith-driven man who’s tired of performing your way into peace…

This one is going to hit home.

Drops tomorrow at 8 AM CT.

Stay tuned.

The world tells Men how to succeed.
God tells Men how to live.
And the two are not the same.

Most of the men I've spoken with are not struggling because they’re weak

They’re struggling because they’re exhausted from chasing a definition of success that was never theirs to carry.

We were taught to measure "Manhood" by:
✔ How much money you make.
 ✔ How hard you can grind.
 ✔ How much pressure you can absorb.
 ✔ How many people you can provide for.
 ✔ How many wins you can stack.

But you can hit every one of those target's and still feel completely disconnected from the man God is shaping you into.

That’s the noise that kills clarity.

One man stated to me:

“I’m scared of being consumed by work again. I just got my peace back.”

Another said:

“I’m exhausted, but I don’t know how to slow down without losing everything.”

Another told me:

“I feel guilty when I rest, even when I know I need it.”

These men aren’t lost, they’re simply following the wrong map.

The World’s map:
👉🏽 Go faster.
👉🏽 Do more.
👉🏽 Build bigger.
👉🏽 Stay busy.
👉🏽 Don’t feel.
👉🏽 Don’t stop.

GOD’s map:
✅ Be still.
✅ Seek Me.
✅ Walk in alignment, not anxiety.
✅ Lead with peace, not pressure.
✅ “Be still, and know that I am God.” - Psalm 46:10

The world’s version of success nearly took me out too.

It almost cost me my faith, my clarity, and my peace.

I continue to learn that for God, performance does NOT equal worth.

And the moment I did, everything began shifting.

Men; if success is costing you peace, presence, or purpose…

it’s too expensive.

💬 What’s one “success rule” you were taught that you’re now choosing to unlearn?

#FaithDrivenMen #PurposeWork #MenOfFaith #SpiritualClarity

Most men don’t need “work-life balance.”

They need alignment, with GOD, with their values, with their calling.

❌ Balance divides your life.
✅ Alignment integrates it.

Today’s new issue of The Unstuck Dispatch dives into the lie we’ve all been sold:

👉🏽 The Lie of Balance: Why faith-driven men don’t need balance, they need to surrender.

Read the full issue below. 👇🏽

#worklifebalance #mensmentalhealth #mensclarity

THE WEIGHT WE CARRY - MINI-SERIES Issue 3 of 4: Field Notes on Faith, Pressure & Purpose Most men are exhausted for one simple reason: We’re trying to

Open article: The Lie of Balance by John Martinez • 3 min read

Most men think they need more motivation, but what they really need is a moment of clarity. 👇🏽

Ever feel productive but not peaceful?

Successful… but strangely unsatisfied?

That’s not burnout, it’s misalignment.

This week’s edition of The Unstuck Dispatch dives into what I call: 

“The Alignment Audit” 

3 simple questions every faith-driven man should ask before he leads, decides, or acts.

Because peace isn’t passive, it’s proof you’re walking in alignment.

💡 Check out the article below

#FaithDrivenLeadership #MenOfFaith #PurposeWork

Have you ever hit every target and still felt like something was off? You were productive… but not peaceful. Successful… but strangely unsatisfied. Th

Open article: The Alignment Audit: 3 Questions Every Faith-Driven Man Should Ask Before He Leads by John Martinez • 2 min read

The Alignment Audit: 3 Questions Every Faith-Driven Man Should Ask Before He Leads

General Manager | Strategic Leadership, Operations, Team Development | I Help Companies Drive 15%+ Growth & Build Elite Teams.

I’m Carlos Cody, an Executive Operations Leader at Amazon specializing in scaling people, systems, and performance across large-scale supply chain and fulfillment networks.

My leadership brand is simple:

Scaling Systems. Developing Leaders. Driving Profitable Growth.

That’s how I approach every operation, team, and challenge by aligning people, process, and performance to deliver sustainable results.

Over the years, I’ve led multi-site operations with full P&L accountability, driving measurable improvements in productivity, safety, and cost efficiency while cultivating a culture of ownership and excellence. I believe true operational success starts with people because when leaders grow, systems improve, and results compound.

Core Strengths & Focus Areas:

- Strategic Leadership: Turning business objectives into executable strategies that scale.
- Operational Excellence: Optimizing systems and processes to improve efficiency and quality.
- People Development: Building and equipping leaders who multiply impact across teams.
- P&L & KPI Ownership: Driving profitability through precision, consistency, and accountability.
- Continuous Improvement: Leveraging Lean and Six Sigma methods to sustain performance gains.
- Culture & Engagement: Creating environments where people feel valued, aligned, and driven to win.

At Amazon, I lead leaders in high-volume, complex environments where strategy must meet execution every day. My focus is building scalable systems, empowering leaders, and sustaining performance through clarity, discipline, and trust.

I’m preparing for the next phase of my career advancing toward Director- and VP-level leadership, where I can shape enterprise strategy, develop future leaders, and build organizations that thrive long term.

If you’re passionate about leadership, culture, and operational excellence, let’s connect. I’m always open to conversations that inspire growth, transformation, and leadership.

Carlos Cody

Top talent isn’t afraid of high standards.
They’re terrified of low ones.
Because nothing kills ambition faster than a leader who settles.
Or worse a leader who’s too scared to raise the bar.

Here’s the part most people won’t admit:
You don’t lose great people because you expect too much.
You lose them because you expect too little and tolerate too much.
Challenge the Standard = Raise the bar without breaking the people.

Real growth requires three uncomfortable things:
Stretching targets — goals that make you sweat, not sleep.
Questioning assumptions — especially the ones that built yesterday’s success.

Saying the forbidden sentence: Good isn’t good enough anymore.


But here’s the nuance weak leaders never learn:
Stretching grows people.
Overcompensating breaks people.
Executives can tell the difference.
Amateurs can’t.
If you want a high-performance team, stop protecting comfort.
Start protecting standards.

Every leader hits the same crossroads:
Raise the bar and grow.
Or lower the bar and decay.
There is no neutral.
Your standards are either strengthening your culture…
or silently destroying it.

If you want to lead at the next level, ask yourself today:

Where have I let comfort replace standards in myself, my team, or my expectations?

Your next promotion won’t come from working harder.
It’ll come from expecting more and its starting with yourself.
Follow along if you’re ready to build the discipline, courage, and standards real leadership demands.

Amazon Ops Leader | Executive Operations Leader | Scaling Systems, Developing Leaders & Driving Profitable Growth | Strategic Leadership, Culture & P&L Performance

Honored to share that I’ve been selected as a new member of Black Executive Men.

Bound by values of integrity and strategy, this community is committed to cultivating leadership that outlives careers and redefines culture.

It’s more than a network —
it’s leadership that builds legacies.
Leadership that endures.

Grateful to grow alongside like-minded Black executive leaders who are shaping the future with excellence, purpose, and impact.

#ExecutiveLeadership #Executive #Leadership #Leader

A Legacy of Leadership

From boardrooms in Dallas to summits in Monaco, Black Executive Men unites leaders who move industries forward.

Bound by values of integrity and strategy, we cultivate leadership that outlives careers and redefines culture.

Leadership that builds legacies.  Leadership that endures.

Invitation-Only
www.blackexecutivemen.com

This group is to allow Black Executives/upwardly mobile black professionals to have a place to network together, collaborate on ideas in the business world, and to move forward in their careers.

Most leaders don’t actually lead people.

They manage tasks.
Monitor dashboards.
Hide behind metrics and meetings.

Here’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud:
You can’t lead people you don’t know.
You can only manage them.

And nobody follows a manager by choice.

Connection isn’t soft.
Connection is strategy.
It’s the difference between positional leadership and transformational leadership.

The problem?

Most leaders obsess over output…
and ignore the humans who create it.

When I think about connection, I ask myself three hard questions:
Do people feel safe telling me the truth?
If they filter their words, you’re not trusted.
You’re feared.

Do they know I care about them, not just the metrics?
If how are you? only happens when performance drops,
you’ve already lost them.

Am I building leaders or just squeezing out more output?
Output is a short-term win.
Leaders are a long-term strategy.

Leadership multiplies when you do three things consistently:
Equip people with the skills to win
Care about their growth as humans and professionals
Create space for them to lead, even when it’s slower at first

Connection isn’t a nice extra it’s a competitive advantage.
Companies with weak connection bleed talent, energy, and results.

If you want long-term results,
stop building dependency and start building leaders.

You don’t scale by managing harder.
You scale by connecting deeper.

Because when people feel known, valued, and trusted…
they don’t just work for you 
they grow with you.

If you’re serious about becoming the kind of leader people want to follow,
not the one they follow because they’re paid to…

Start with this:
Who on my team do I need to genuinely know, support, or develop starting today?

Follow along if you want to learn the leadership practices that build trust, raise performance, and multiply leaders for the long term.

Most teams aren’t underperforming.

They’re confused.

And confused teams don’t execute.
They improvise.

The real problem?
Too many leaders are running multi-million dollar goals…
with kindergarten-level clarity.

Vision isn’t a slogan on a slide.
It’s the operating system for your team’s brain.

Cast the Vision = Clarity + Conviction.
If you’re serious about leadership, start here:

If your team can’t repeat the goal in one simple sentence…
you don’t have a vision. You have noise.

If they don’t know why it matters to the business and to them…
you don’t have buy-in. You have compliance.

If they can’t see themselves winning in the story…
you don’t have ownership. You have passengers.

A leader’s vision is not what you see.
It’s what you help everyone else believe they can actually reach.

You want execution?
Stop flooding people with tasks and decks.
Give them a clear picture, a clear target, and a clear “why.”

If your team is guessing,
you’re not leading.

You’re hiding behind goals and calling it vision.

If you’re serious about becoming a leader people want to follow—not just have to follow—
start by ruthlessly simplifying your vision.

Ask yourself today:
Can every person on my team explain our goal, in one sentence, without me in the room?

If the answer is no…
your next promotion starts with fixing that.

Follow along if you’re ready to build the kind of clarity that turns teams into high performers.

How I Think About Burnout as a Peak-Season Leader

Truth: It’s a capacity problem, not a character or you problem. 

Percpetion is everything and we need to look at burnout from a different lense. Because it gets mislabeled every year.

The worse part is we all find that we say things like, should’ve been stronger. Like you’re somehow weak because peak season is pushing passed the capcity and complexity norms.

I want to be clear when I say that, burnout isn’t a character problem but, burnout is a capacity problem.

You know what to expect: 
- Volume increases 
- Stress and pace increase 10x 
- Expectations rise and multiply overnight…

And you know deep down that you feel you do not have the capacity to manage it all. 

Peak exposes one thing:
Your systems, not your worth.

I see it every year the leaders who struggle who - 
They rely on adrenaline, hustle, more effort, more hands in the pot, and winging it off of hope alone.

And I also see the leaders who dont only avoid burnout but go into 2nd gear  and they - 
They rely on clarity, prioritization, and owning their capacity by design.

Peak isn’t measuring your heart and will.
Peak is measuring your structure.

Build the capacity → burnout becomes manageable.
Ignore the capacity → burnout becomes inevitable.

Burnout doesn’t mean you’re a bad leader, it means you are a human leader.
It also means the season is demanding more capacity than the one you have built.

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #amazon #peakseaon

Most leaders obsess over strategy.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Strategy dies instantly in low-energy rooms.

You can have the perfect plan, the perfect deck, the perfect KPIs
but if the energy is off, the execution collapses.

Executives underestimate this every single day:

Energy is a performance lever.
Maybe the most important one.

You don’t get high performance from exhausted, depleted, or discouraged people.
You get compliance, minimal effort, and slow collapse.

Cultivating energy is not soft leadership.
It’s operational intelligence.

It looks like this:
• Encouraging the team when they’re tired
Not with empty hype—but with real confidence, clarity, and belief.

• Celebrating real wins
Not the slide-deck victories.
The gritty, unglamorous wins that actually moved the business forward.

• Setting a tone of belief, not fear
Fear gets short-term effort.
Belief gets long-term commitment.

And here’s the hard part:

Leadership lives in the tension of raising standards and lifting spirits.
We don’t choose one.
We master both.

Your people are not machines.
They’re humans carrying pressure you never see.

Protect their energy.
Fuel their confidence.
And watch your execution rise without forcing it.

A high-energy team can outperform a more talented low-energy team any day.

Because energy fuels pace, ownership, creativity, and resilience.

If your team is flat, frustrated, or fatigued
your strategy never had a chance.

If you want to be the kind of leader people want to run through walls for, ask yourself today:
Am I cultivating energy, or quietly draining it?

Follow along if you want more leadership frameworks that build belief, raise performance, and create teams that don’t just hit goals
they exceed them.

Most leaders love talking about vision.
But here’s the truth that separates amateurs from operators:
Vision without execution is a fantasy.
Execution without vision is chaos.
Both extremes destroy teams.
Both expose weak leadership fast.

Execution isn’t magic.
It isn’t motivation.
It isn’t try harder.
Execution is Systems + Ownership + Rhythm.

But most leaders never slow down long enough to ask the real questions:
1. Do we have simple, visible systems to run the plan?
If the team needs a decoder ring to understand the workflow,
your system isn’t a system — it’s a suggestion.

2. Does every leader know the key inputs they own?
If everyone owns everything, no one owns anything.
Execution collapses in ambiguity.

3. Do we inspect what we expect daily?
Not weekly.
Not when we remember.
Daily.

Because uninspected work becomes unpredictable work.
And here’s the real kicker:
Leaders don’t just talk results.
They build systems that PRODUCE them on good days and bad ones.

When you run the full C5 cycle long enough:
Cast → Challenge → Connect → Cultivate → Convert —
you stop chasing targets and start creating a culture that beats them.

Consistently.
Predictably.
Sustainably.

If your team is inconsistent,
your systems are inconsistent.
If your execution is chaotic,
your ownership is unclear.
And if your results are unpredictable…
your leadership rhythm is broken.
Execution isn’t about intensity.
It’s about clarity, simplicity, and daily discipline.

If you’re serious about becoming a leader who doesn’t just set goals
but actually delivers them, ask yourself today:

What system can I simplify, what input can I clarify,
and what rhythm can I tighten — starting now?

Follow along if you want the frameworks that help leaders go from vision… to execution… to unstoppable results.

The Real Peak Season Bottleneck: Overloaded Frontline Managers

Frontline managers carry the heaviest load in Peak.
Everyone knows it.
Almost no one wants to say it out loud.

They’re hiring.
They’re training.
They’re scheduling.
They’re coaching.
And somehow still expected to deliver flawless execution at Peak speed.

Axonify reports 65% say seasonal staffing is their #1 driver of burnout.
Not the work but the weight of the work.

Frontline managers are the middle of the sandwich: 
Pressure from above.
Problems from below.
Still expected to smile.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth:
If your frontline managers burn out this peak, your metrics will follow.

So what should senior leaders actually do?

How senior leaders can support frontline managers in Peak:
- Give decision rights, not more escalations. Empower them to fix problems in real time.

- Simplify expectations. Don’t stack priorities, instead rank them.

- Resource early. Staffing, tools, and support should be proactive, not reactive.

- Protect their time. Remove low-value meetings, admin loads, and things that are just noise.

- Be present. Not to police but instead to partner.

How managers can protect themselves and still deliver:
- Prioritize flow over perfection. Perfect dies in Peak. Consistent wins.

- Delegate clearly. Don’t carry everything because others might not do it right.

- Set daily direction. Clarity reduces chaos more than just pushing harder.

- Manage energy, not just tasks. Short resets pay operational dividends.

Peak doesn’t get easier.
But frontline managers shouldn’t carry it alone.

They’re not just operators.
They’re the backbone of Peak season performance.

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #amazon #peakseason

Before Peak season starts, remember that it will be challenging.

The workplace will be busy, stressful, and hours will be long.  
Deliveries might be late. Technology might fail. Plans will change.  
People will be tired and stressed.

You’ll hear complaints. People will expect a lot from you including your customers, your bosses, and your team.

But keep in mind that this is normal for Peak season. The pressure is part of it. But what matters is how you lead.

When things get stressful, choose to stay calm.  
When problems happen, choose to stay focused.  
When your team feels tired, choose to remind them why their work is important.

Your team needs more than just a plan, they need you to be present.  
They need to see you calm, even when things are tough.  
They need to know you believe in them.

Being a good leader isn’t just about working faster, harder, and pushing people to do more.  
It’s about being strong and steady while having grace under fire.
It’s about staying calm when things are chaotic, and giving clear direction.

So before your shift, remind yourself:

- Problems will come but I’ll stay focused.
- Pressure will rise but I’ll stay steady.
- People will be stressed and struggle but I’ll lead with care.
 
The calmest leader usually has the best results.
Stay steady. Stay present. Stay strong.  

When things speed up, your calmness is your strength.

How to Keep Your Best People From Checking Out in Q4

Q4 turns up the heat on everyone:
More volume.
More speed.
More pressure.
More eyes on the results.

But here’s the part no one likes to say out loud:

Your people don’t disengage because work got harder.
They disengage because of how their leader shows up when it does.

And in Q4, leaders usually fall into one of three categories:

1️⃣ The Doom-and-Gloom Leader
Everything is urgent.
Everything is falling apart.
Every conversation is stress, pressure, and catastrophe.

This leader doesn’t inspire effort.
They drain it.
Your best people don’t check out — they escape.

2️⃣ The Happy-Go-Lucky Leader
Always “positive.”
Always “upbeat.”
Always pretending everything is fine.

Blind to issues.
Avoidant of discomfort.
Disconnected from the reality everyone else is feeling.

This leader creates false optimism… and real frustration.

3️⃣ The Whole Leader (The One People Stay For)
This leader is the difference-maker.

They acknowledge the pressure honestly.
They don’t sugarcoat the season.
They don’t spiral into negativity.

They stay calm.
They stay focused.
They lead from clarity, not emotion.

And instead of pretending the stress isn’t real, they guide people through it.

Here’s how Whole Leaders keep their teams engaged in Q4:
Address reality clearly: Yes, this is a heavy season. Here’s what matters most today.

- Protect the environment: Reduce chaos. Remove friction. Create flow early.
- Provide direction, not noise: Specific next steps, not general pressure.
- Offer support without coddling: “What do you need to win?”
- Model calm urgency: Assertive, not anxious. Focused, not frantic.
- Give meaningful recognition: Highlight behaviors that help the team move forward.
- Empower ownership: Trust your people with real responsibility and clear guardrails.

Whole Leaders don’t deny the pressure instead they lead people through it with clarity, calm, and action.

That’s who people follow.
That’s who people stay for in Q4.
That’s who keeps the team from mentally checking out.

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #amazon #peakseason

If I could tell every leader in the world one truth about Peak season, it would be this:

The pressure isn’t the real enemy.
Entering the day unprepared is.

Q4 in logistics, operations, and fulfillment is unforgiving.
The volume is real.
The hours are long.
The pace is relentless.
And the weight of everyone’s expectations hits you before you get out of bed.

Most leaders let the day lead them.
They wake up and immediately drown in emails, Slack messages, fires, confusion, and noise.

But here’s the truth I want millions of leaders to understand.
If you don’t lead your inner world first, everything else will lead it for you.

And no leader can afford that in Peak.

But listen this isn’t about a long, complicated morning routine.
It’s not a 2-hour ritual.
It’s not about perfection.

It’s about 15 minutes or up to 1 hour that realigns you with the leader you want to be…
before the building pulls you into the leader you don’t want to become.

Here’s the daily reset I teach and practice:

- A mindset reset:
I check my thoughts, emotions, and attitude before the day has the chance to hijack them.

- A quick workout:
Even 10–20 minutes strengthens my discipline so stress doesn’t own my body.

- Feed the mind:
Audible or reading to elevate my perspective before problems shrink it.

- Purpose & values review:
So I show up as a grounded leader, not a reactive one.

- Identity decision:
I choose who I will be today, not who pressure tries to turn me into.

Because here’s the lesson leaders everywhere need to hear
If you don’t lead your thoughts, emotions, and attitude…
Peak will lead them for you and Peak doesn’t care about your peace, purpose, or potential.

But when you give yourself even 15 minutes of alignment, you walk into the day with clarity, not stress..
and you become the leader your people rise with, not run from.

This is the leadership reset that scales.
This is how leaders multiply their impact.
This is how millions can lead with more peace, presence, and power even in the hardest seasons.

What’s one small thing you do each day to reset yourself before stepping into a heavy week or shift?

Share it below...your routine might change another leader’s life.

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #leader #amazon #PeakPower

The top predictor of a high-performing organization isn’t process or policy it’s psychological safety.

When people feel safe to speak up, performance scales.
When they don’t, innovation dies quietly.

Leaders think feedback drives improvement.
It doesn’t but the right environment does with right ratio.

Research shows elite teams keep a 5:1 ratio of praise to criticism.
That is data and performance science.

Because people don’t grow where they’re judged; they grow where they’re valued.

The best leaders don’t criticize instead they calibrate.
They coach with clarity, recognize progress, and reinforce trust.

If you want sustainable results, build a culture where people feel safe to fail, learn, and lead.

Because when people feel safe, they perform at their best.

Are you building safety or breeding silence?

#ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment
#SeniorLeadership
#CLevelLeadership
#ExecutivePresence
#LeadershipStrategy
#HighPerformanceLeadership
#TransformationalLeadership #LeadershipCulture

There is power in NO. 

True alignment isn’t proven by what you say yes to it’s revealed by what you refuse to chase.

As leaders, we love progress. But progress without alignment becomes noise.

Strategy isn’t about doing more it’s about doing less with purpose.

Say no to what dilutes your focus.
Say no to what clouds your identity.
Say no to what doesn’t fit your mission.

Because real effectiveness comes when your NO protects your YES.

The more defined your NO, the more powerful your YES becomes and that’s where your true influence begins.

#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #Leader #PersonalDevelopment

Most high performers aren’t blocked by opportunity.

They’re blocked by identity.

They’re trying to do leadership
before they ever become a leader.

That’s why so many smart, hungry people stay stuck at the same level:
They binge books.
They share quotes.
They chase tactics.

But they never upgrade the person doing the leading.
Here’s the simple model I use:

Tier 1 – Whole Leader (Becoming)
This is the inner game:

Identity → Who you decide to be every day
Integrity → Do your actions actually match your words?
Influence → Do people listen when you speak?
Impact → Are people and results better because of you?

If this tier is weak, no promotion, strategy, or playbook will save you.
You’ll work harder… and still feel behind.

Tier 2 – C5 Model (Doing)
This is the outer game:

Cast the vision
Challenge the standard
Connect with people
Cultivate energy
Convert vision into results

Inner work first.
Outer work second.

That’s how you build results that don’t collapse every time life, work, or leadership gets harder.

If you only collect leadership tips,
but never become a Whole Leader,

you’re not building a career.
You’re building a very busy treadmill.

If you’re serious about becoming the kind of leader people want to follow and
not just have to follow 

Stick around.

Over the next few posts, I’ll break down the Whole Leader + C5 model so you can:

Set clear direction
Raise your standards
Build other leaders
Protect your energy
Deliver results consistently

Follow if you’re done playing small and ready to become the leader you’ve been reading about.

You cannot give what you do not have.

A good heart and good intentions matter 
but without growth, you’ll always run out of what to give.

1️⃣ Growing yourself isn’t selfish  it’s how you multiply your impact.

2️⃣ The more you grow, the more you can give wisdom, leadership, and opportunity.

3️⃣ Your commitment to growth is the greatest gift you can give others.

4️⃣ Every book you read, every skill you learn, and every experience you gain increases your ability to help someone else rise.

When you grow, everyone connected to you benefits including
your family, your team, your circle, your company.

Fill your cup first so that you can overflow later.

graphical user interface, text, application

The Habits of High Earners and High Performers: What They Do Differently Every Day

Most people want success.
Few build the habits that can handle it.

After years of leading teams, mentoring leaders, and studying high performers. I’ve noticed they all share a rhythm.
It’s not luck. It’s not talent.
It’s habits practiced daily, aligned with who they’re becoming, and designed to multiply their impact, influence, and income.

Here’s what they do differently. 👇🏽

Go read the article now. What is one habit that you will commit to implementing? 

#LeadershipDevelopment #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalGrowth #LeadershipMindset #ExecutiveLeadership #SelfLeadership #CareerGrowth #HighPerformance

View newsletter: Leadership Operating System

The difference isn’t luck. It’s leadership habits. Over the years, I’ve studied how top performers think, move, and lead. It’s not that they’re smarte

Open article: The Habits of High Earners and High Performers by Carlos Cody • 3 min read

The Habits of High Earners and High Performers

Lead with leverage. Teach, dont just tell. 

Your output = the output of your team + the teams you influence.
That’s the real leadership multiplier.

✅Treat training and 1:1s as high-leverage work. It’s where you scale thinking, not just track tasks.
✅Create psychological safety so others feel safe to teach and fail forward. Growth requires grace.
✅ Document the lesson → systemize → repeat across shifts. That’s how knowledge becomes capability.

Leaders don’t just fix problems—they build people who prevent them.

What will you teach this week that reduces escalations next week?

#Leadership #ExecutiveLeadership #OperationsExcellence #PeopleDevelopment #HighOutputLeadership #StrategyExecution #LeadersDevelopLeaders

You can’t lead at a high level with a low view of your time.

You can’t afford to waste time. Instead you must decide to invest your time in places it compounds. 

To do this start with your head. Make time to think strategically.
Not everything that looks urgent actually moves your life and business forward.

Don’t just be guided by your mind but also lead with your heart. Give  time to what fuels people and purpose, not just productivity.

Remember real connection drives results not just strategy. 

And make time to create systems that multiply your hands. Build things that execute when you’re not in the room.

That’s how your create real leverage.

You will find by doing this the  difference between being busy and being effective. 

And it’s all in how you decide to manage your time.

Always remember this:
Master your time, and you’ll multiply your impact.

#Leadership #ExecutiveLeadership
#BusinessStrategy
#OperationsLeadership #ExecutivePresence
#Management #CareerGrowth
#LeadershipDevelopment
#StrategicLeadership
#PersonalDevelopment

A Quick Break in the Peak Chaos... Happy Thanksgiving

Before we dive into the next Peak lesson, I want to pause for something more important.

This season is heavy.
Workloads are up.
Pressure is up.
Expectations are up.

And yet leaders, frontline managers, and teams are still showing up with grit, intention, and heart.

Today, I just want to say this - Thank you.

Thank you to the leaders who stay calm when everything speeds up.
Thank you to the frontline managers carrying more than anyone sees.
Thank you to the teams who make magic happen behind the scenes.
Thank you to everyone choosing excellence even in a high-pressure season.

Peak reveals a lot about leadership, but it also reveals a lot about character.

As we step into Thanksgiving, I hope you get a moment even a small one to breathe, rest, and appreciate how far you’ve come this year.

From my family to yours:
Happy Thanksgiving.
Stay grateful, stay grounded, and stay encouraged — the season isn’t over, but neither is your strength.

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #amazon #peakseason

Most leaders survive Q4. A few use it to separate themselves.

Peak season exposes everything your mindset, your habits, your discipline.

If you can stay clear, steady, and focused when the pressure rises,
you don’t just make it through Q4…You rise above it.

I wrote a new piece on how to turn Peak stress into Peak power.
If you’re leading in a heavy season, you’ll want this.

Read it here 👇🏾
Make Q4 Your Breakthrough, Not Your Breakdown

#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #Leaders

How the right mindset and actions can turn stress into momentum. Peak season shows up every year with a predictable rhythm. Volume rises, time compres

Open article: Make Q4 Your Breakthrough, Not Your Breakdown by Carlos Cody • 5 min read

Make Q4 Your Breakthrough, Not Your Breakdown

taplio

The Battle

John Martinez

Carlos Cody

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreJohn Martinez's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCarlos Cody's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

John Martinez

Carlos Cody

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);}John Martinez's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreCarlos Cody's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJohn Martinez's LinkedIn Performance