Justin Bateh, PhD, PMP

I write about project management, leadership, and AI | Follow to develop skills for faster, smarter, and more efficient project management and to build winning teams | Boost your career with my actionable insights

Hi, I’m Justin 👋 I’ve spent my career running projects where decisions mattered, and failure wasn’t an option. I didn’t study project management, operations, and strategy just to talk about it. I used it to make decisions, fix broken execution, and get results when the stakes were high. To prove it wasn’t luck, I built repeatable systems I teach through real projects and that are now used and proven by thousands of leaders. Here, I share my experience in project management, AI, leadership, and decision-making. Not as theory, but as leverage for modern leaders.I hate fluff. I hate busywork. Everything here is real, tested, and battle-proven...from someone who’s still doing the work today. I also teach the top-rated AI-Powered Project Management cohort on Maven, where I help task-buried professionals become confident, AI-powered project leaders who operate closer to decisions and far from busywork. *All views and opinions shared across my content are solely my own.

Founder

I teach Project & Operations professionals the skills to drive sustainable growth, change, and profitability using data-driven decision making, lean tools, six sigma methodologies, agile projects, and data analytics. I have worked with executives and managers from numerous organizations, including Walmart, Verizon, Amazon, Pearson, UPS, Wiley, Cengage, Medtronic, US Department of Health, CSX, USPS, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Crowley Maritime, US Air Force, US Navy, Novartis, FedEx, McKesson, and many others.

Justin Bateh, PhD

9 Simple Ways To Recognize Your Team

(The stuff that’s not in any handbook)

1/ Stop Micromanaging Them
→ Trust is the ultimate recognition.
→ Hire smart people—then let them work.
→ Oversight kills ownership.

2/ Promote the Competent, Not the Loud
→ Results speak louder than self-promotion.
→ Reward outcomes, not volume.
→ Quiet excellence deserves the spotlight.

3/ Give Them True Autonomy
→ Treat them like adults.
→ Let them decide how they work best.
→ Freedom fuels performance.

4/ Pay Them What They’re Worth
→ Money talks louder than pizza parties.
→ Certificates don’t pay bills.
→ Fair pay is real appreciation.

5/ Fire the Toxic Performers
→ One bad attitude drains ten good ones.
→ Protect the culture, not the culprit.
→ Removing them lifts everyone else.

6/ Don’t Be a Jerk
→ Decency is rare leadership currency.
→ Respect costs nothing.
→ Kindness compounds influence.

7/ Give Them Time Off (and Mean It)
→ Burnout isn’t a badge of honor.
→ Disconnect means no Slack, no guilt.
→ Rested teams outperform exhausted ones.

8/ Listen to Their Ideas
→ Ask, pause, and really hear them.
→ Implementation proves respect.
→ Listening drives innovation.

9/ Publicly Give Credit (and Take None)
→ Celebrate their wins loudly.
→ Success is theirs—failure is yours.
→ That’s real leadership.

Recognition isn’t a bonus. It’s a culture.
And culture decides who stays.

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Expert in AI-Driven Project Management, Strategy, & Operations | Ex-COO Turned Award-Winning Professor, LinkedIn Instructor & Corporate Trainer

8 Ways You're Signaling You're Not Ready for Promotion

(Most people miss these completely)

You're not getting passed over for lack of skills.

You're getting passed over for lack of signals.

Senior leaders watch how you operate when you think no one's looking.

Here's what they see:

1/ Waiting to Be Told What to Do
→ You ask "What should I work on next?"
→ Instead of "Here's what I think we should prioritize."
→ Initiative beats instruction.
→ Leaders create direction.

2/ Bringing Problems Without Solutions
→ You surface issues perfectly.
→ But offer no path forward.
→ Problem identification is junior level.
→ Solution ownership is promotion level.

3/ Only Speaking When Spoken To
→ Especially in leadership meetings.
→ Silence gets interpreted as disengagement.
→ Or lack of strategic thinking.
→ Presence requires participation.

4/ Managing Tasks, Not Outcomes
→ You report on what you did.
→ Not what changed because of it.
→ Activity feels productive.
→ Impact drives promotion.

5/ Asking Permission for Everything
→ "Can I email the client about this?"
→ "Should I schedule that meeting?"
→ Risk aversion signals junior mindset.
→ Ownership signals readiness.

6/ Avoiding Difficult Conversations
→ You hope problems resolve themselves.
→ Or wait for someone else to address them.
→ Conflict avoidance stalls advancement.
→ Leaders lean into discomfort.

7/ Not Managing Up Effectively
→ You assume your boss knows your impact.
→ They don't.
→ Visibility requires intentionality.
→ Good work without communication is invisible work.

8/ Thinking Only About Your Work
→ You optimize for your team's success.
→ Not the organization's goals.
→ Tunnel vision limits scope.
→ Strategic thinking expands it.

Most people think promotions are about performance.

They're actually about perception.

And perception is shaped by signals you send every day.

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Don't waste your energy on the wrong people in 2026.

Choose wisely using the Skill/Will Matrix:

1/ Top Performers (High Skill + High Will)
→ Don't micromanage them
→ Give them ownership
→ Recognize them publicly
→ Build your future around them
→ They're your A-players

2/ High Potentials (Low Skill + High Will)
→ Coach them actively
→ Set them up for wins
→ Develop, don't smother
→ Motivation drives results
→ They want to succeed

3/ Disengaged Experts (High Skill + Low Will)
→ Ask questions and listen
→ Could be burnt out or bored
→ Small shifts can reignite them
→ Sometimes it doesn't work
→ They deliver but disconnected

4/ Low Performers (Low Skill + Low Will)
→ This is where time dies
→ Give one clear chance
→ Exit quickly if no change
→ Keeping them drains A-players
→ They won't improve or try

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I help you craft your social media strategies | Social Media Strategist & Consultant

I help you:

1. Get attention from your ideal clients
2. Clarity and direction - Have a clear plan to follow rather than feeling uncertain or overwhelmed
3. Consistency - Easy-to-follow plan that helps you without the struggle
4. Go after the quick wins

If this sounds good to you, send me a DM

Frank Velasquez

Finding good ghostwriters is almost impossible. Most have writing skills or LinkedIn knowledge. Rarely both. These are three types:

Writers who know how to write but have no LinkedIn experience. They don't know yet what makes a good post stand out. But they easily could if they know how to hook people.

LinkedIn creators who are good at their own content but can't shed their voice for someone else. Just because things work for them doesn't mean it works when they do it for somebody else. It's hard to find the tone of the client and make it sound like them.

And then there are people who've done this for multiple clients across different agencies. After writing for different clients, taking on someone new is almost straightforward. 

(These have been extremely hard to come across 🥲)

A client I recently took on has a style similar to that of someone I worked with before. I had to experiment on that previous client to nail the tone of voice and writing style. That gave me what I needed for the next one.

That's why hiring is so difficult. It's usually one or the other. It's hard to find the mix. There's always a learning curve, and it can be very long. You might be very good for some types of people and writing styles, and not for others.

I've been able to be adaptable. 

But even for me, it's not always the case.

Consultant and Ghostwriter | Scale LinkedIn presence with strategy & systems. Helping other ghostwriters do the same.

At the end of 2025, I moved to a new place and decided to transform the guest bedroom into a proper home office. Not just a desk pushed against the wall - a full setup fitted to my needs.

I kept thinking about the desk I had back in China. So I went all in. Researched the plank of wood, the color of the paint, bought a bunch of accessories, and a new desktop. As I kept doing research on IG and YouTube for office aesthetics, I caught myself thinking: why am I not doing the same thing for my content and eventually my clients' content?

The research and aesthetics of how I wanted my personal office to be led to a new save list on different storytelling styles, new content pieces, and different ways of sharing content I want to try in 2026. 

Realized I can't find fresh angles by studying the same platform all day. Sometimes you need to step outside your feed. Just because of this, I think the investment in the new office is already paying off.

2 years ago, I left my job in China at 30. I had no backup plan and no idea what I'd do next.

I'd spent seven years building systems for companies and agencies there. Scaling social media departments from scratch. Managing email marketing campaigns that generated millions for clients. But I didn't want to stay there anymore.

So I moved back to Ecuador and figured it out.

Today, I'm growing a LinkedIn ghostwriting agency. We grew from 2 to 8 clients in 2025, and we want to double that number this year. 

In 2025 alone I did: 500+ posts for my clients, 17,060 followers, 5.2M impressions.

That’s two years of trial and error on LinkedIn. Testing what captures voice and what clients actually respond to.

Turns out you don't need a perfect plan. You just need to be willing to figure it out as you go.

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I broke LinkedIn's number one best practice, and engagement actually went up.

I started writing on LinkedIn in 202,3 and there was a particular style that was working. One-liners. Short hooks. Line breaks everywhere. Some people still do it, but it's clear that it has caused some fatigue all across. 

Although big creators who focused on building solid communities still thrive with that. After all, it's not just the formatting.

However, in the niche we are in, we stopped using what we thought were best practices. For some of our clients, one-liners don't work. They think it's cheap. They think you're trying too hard. Big bulk paragraphs actually work very well. But then there's an art to what is a good paragraph.

The hard part is knowing when to break the "rules" versus when to follow them. 

That's where most people get stuck. 

They either follow best practices blindly or reject everything because they want to be different.

I guess the point is that playbooks are starting points, not the gospel.

I came across a clip from Anthony Smith, the editor for The Diary Of A CEO, where he explains how he needs to justify every single edit decision. It hit me immediately.

In my case, when writing for a client, every single line needs a reason to be there. There are many ways to write a hook. I need to justify why I think that hook will perform over others. Could be because others in that niche do it. It could be because it stacks credibility or shows contrast. It could be because it starts with a personal story, and that has worked in the past for that client.

Same with the stories we tell in the post. Does this benefit or entertain our audience? Is there clear value to them? Is there a lesson or advice they can take away from reading this? We try to justify every single line.

What Anthony said about his trailer editing process applies directly to ghostwriting: if someone asks why you chose this approach, you should be able to explain it. Not just "it sounds good" - actual reasoning based on what's worked for this client, what performs in their niche, what their audience responds to.

It holds you accountable. Makes you think harder about every element you're adding. And if you can justify it, it's meant to be there.

Want faster decisions from clients? Do 90% of the thinking first.

I used to send messages asking what we should do about something. Then I’d wait three days for a vague response that created more questions. The content would inevitably be delayed. 

Now, I’d rather present three options, recommend one, and ask for a yes or no.

It’s not that clients don’t want to help. It’s that open questions require way more mental energy than reacting to something concrete. 

When you ask someone to figure out the approach from scratch, you’re asking them to do work. When you present options, you’re making it easy to steer.

My job isn’t to make people do the hard thinking. It’s to do the thinking, then make it easy for them to decide.

So how did you end up writing with Harry Phokou ?

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The Battle

Justin Bateh, PhD

Frank Velasquez

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taplio

The Battle

Justin Bateh, PhD

Frank Velasquez

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);}Justin Bateh, PhD's LinkedIn Performance

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