Level Agency

Chief Executive Officer

Managing Partner & President

President

Senior Vice President of Operations

Developed product and market strategies that positioned the company to achieve long term growth, while meeting annual revenue and profitability goals. Continually identified and assessed new markets, product and technology opportunities and ensured resources were in place to drive marketing strategy and capitalize on opportunities. 

• Served as a key and active member of the senior management operating team
• Provided leadership for the development of global strategic marketing plans including objectives and strategy for targeted markets
• Drove efforts with product and business development to define an overall product and technology portfolio strategy to drive the long term growth of the organization
• Ensured the development of all strategic product roadmaps and corresponding marketing plans
• Continuously evaluated trends and adjusted strategy to capitalize on shifts in the marketplace. 
• Analyzed existing product and markets in terms of the ability to compete, gain market share, grow revenue and sustain or grow profitability
• Monitored business metrics in regard to revenues, profitability, market share and product portfolio mix. 
• Established metrics for the measurement of marketing program effectiveness
• Developed and manage the marketing budget
• Responsible (in collaboration with sales) for the development of the company’s revenue forecast
• Responsible for the overall management of the marketing team providing coaching, leadership and assistance with resources and strategy development

Vice President of Technology and Product

Member

Vistage Worldwide, Inc.

CallerReady LLC

Responsible for developing and implementing a product roadmap for the company that ensures development and testing of high quality, high value products/services that can be successfully marketed to consumers. Also responsible for leading the development of strategies to migrate customer service and sales onto a completely self service platform. 

• Drive the implementation of a Product roadmap within the company.
• Manage the existing stable of products and lead the ongoing development of enhancements to support increased value to customers.
• Gather and analyze feedback from sales, marketing, operations and partners/prospects to set the strategic vision for existing products and development of new products.
• Manage the execution of consumer research to further support rationale for product development and positioning within the marketplace.
• Direct our internal process to define the product strategy, roadmap and priorities.
• Research, develop & implement a best processes strategy for new product development, launch and analysis.
• Develop requirements documents and use cases for new product features.
• Monitor the status of development projects supporting new features
• Become an expert on other products in the marketplace
• Product life cycle & profitability management.
• Provide guidance and direction to the team on developing new products and managing the lifecycle of existing products
• Build a team to support rapid growth expectations.
• Develop & implement strategy to drive product and customer service onto the web.

Director of Interactive and Product Development

EDMC

As a member of EDMC Online Higher Education marketing department, the Search Manager is responsible for leading and executing search engine strategy for all OHE brands. This position entails development & management of search marketing plans, keyword campaigns, SEO, search inclusion and interactive advertising programs; negotiating contracts, monitoring results and making necessary adjustments in order to generate high-quality, cost-effective student inquiries. 

•	Direct and coordinate multiple “cross-platform” projects while working within established deadlines. 
•	Develop and implement strategy for Internet advertising campaigns designed to increase web site visitors, generate quality student inquiries, and strengthen all EDMC online brands. 
•	Manage and administer EDMC brands’ online budgets.
•	Ensure accuracy (BPC compliance) and quality of all electronic advertising and marketing creative.
•	Develops a collaborative relationship with EDMC to assure online marketing initiatives are in sync with EDMC philosophies and procedures.
•	 Adhere to budget constraints and adjustments while continuing to increase inquiries and web site traffic through the respective EDMC brands’ online marketing campaigns. 
•	Remain current with and possess a thorough understanding of available online advertising, SEO and marketing vehicles as well as measurement tools. 
•	Analyzes current procedures and processes to assure optimal utilization of web-based and email marketing initiatives. 
•	Monitor/track results of online marketing vehicles purchased.

HIGHLIGHTS
•	Launched 3000+ page online education directory portal site from concept to completion in 3 months (2010)
•	Directly managed $20+ million marketing budget to drive year over year growth and drive direct response initiatives (2008-2010)

Search Marketing & Display Advertising Manager

• Analyze Web traffic using Omniture, Google Analytics, and other data collecting sources to support the analytic needs of the business
• Lead driving core insights from the data to suggest, create and execute multivariate or a/b/c tests that drive fundamental improvements to the site experience
• Develop and implement data strategy across multiple “listening posts” (websites, surveys, testing, CRM systems, market research etc) to provide a comprehensive view of students, faculty, and prospects across the online web experience 
• Work  with the Web Strategies team to identify gaps in the data capture strategy and implement enhancements  Improve and document processes for gathering metrics and data analysis

HIGHLIGHTS
•	Implemented multiple analytics software packages throughout web experience to facilitate creation of executive dashboards and reports (2007-2009)

Web Strategies Analyst

• Ownership for operational results of recruitment websites.  Personally manage and drive daily performance of metrics against internal requirements as well as competitive positioning
• Web strategy development including ensuring the brand experience by combining the convenience of on-line education with the experience of a top traditional school and making it come to life through our recruitment websites to support a consistent web-based end to end student experience.   Creates web environments to support the student recruitment goals and provide automation that supports growth and scale to the organization. 
• Provide leadership on web solutions development for the OHE organization.  Develop and manage scope, resources and project plans to deliver appropriate web solutions.
• Partner with OHE Marketing organization to implement marketing strategies.

HIGHLIGHTS
•	Introduced Landing Page Optimization and MVT testing to company leading to 100-300%+ increases in conversion across three different brands (2007-2010)
•	Successfully oversaw implementation of new student recruitment initiatives including: marketing site redesigns, microsite launches, online student tours, and admissions tools (2008-2010)

Web Producer, Student Recruitment

Recruit new students to meet new student plan. Develop and maintain positive relationships with students. Provide creative solutions to complicated admissions problems. Contribute to a positive results driven professional work environment. Serve as a job knowledge expert, trainer, and mentor for new hire and veteran ADAs.

Director Of Admissions

The Dinner Pantry, Inc

Developing and executing the go-to-market strategy for a food service startup. Creating and fully developing company network infrastructure and e-commerce website. Responsible for the content and publication of said website by coordinating, designing, and monitoring electronic publications for distribution. Developing and implementing strategies to improve group marketing.

Head of Marketing & Product

In his tenure as president & CEO of Level Agency, Patrick Patterson oversaw its transformation from a pioneering, fast-growing higher education shop into the performance-marketing powerhouse it is today. Under his leadership, the agency’s revenue grew 30% or more annually; its profit margin increased 4X; its marketing spend now tops $50M annually, and its capabilities have broadened to offer more complementary services for more industries.

Great marketing starts with asking great questions. From the outset of his career, Patterson applied his background in computer science and math to the challenge of reaching and engaging audiences (and carefully measuring every result). In an industry increasingly driven by automation and machine learning, he excelled, ultimately managing a $30+ million budget for Education Management Corporation. Patrick then took his passion for creating value to product development, implementing lean methodology at a technology startup that focused on using data to drive efficient sales enablement.

His drive for efficiency, performance, and continuous improvement led him to join agency founder Thomas Donohoe in 2012 to oversee Level’s operations and strategic direction - eventually purchasing the company in 2021 with his partner, Patrick Van Gorder.

Patterson’s vision for Level Agency is to be the go-to performance marketing agency when clients want real, measurable results. Reaching this goal requires an uncompromising commitment to performance: platform excellence, compelling creative, client partnership, growth mindset, and constant innovation. By surrounding himself with talented, adaptable colleagues, he knows he’s set the agency up for success.

Patrick Patterson

Cofounder of Lead In 30 • Upgrade your leaders • Human resources and leadership development

It was one of the most memorable moments of my career. I was standing in the front of the room finishing a meeting with the top 200 leaders of a large hospital system in the DC area. I handed the microphone to the CEO to close us out. What he said shocked me and has stuck with me for years. After hours of discussion about the culture of his organization of 18,000 people that day he ended the meeting looking into the eyes of his top 200 and saying into the microphone, "I have come to an inconvenient and disgusting conclusion that I am the problem."

That's a direct quote.

He was gone less than two months later. 

He left.

For almost a decade I've traveled the world meeting with leaders of some of the world's biggest companies. Amazon, Walmart, Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Cigna, Hormel, BD, Darden Restaurants, Fox, and HCA to name a few. I've averaged 165 flights a year. New York, London, Singapore, Sydney, New Zealand, and a lot of less notable locales have been stops along the way.

Here's what I've learned...

Leaders make or break an organization.

They are the competitive advantage.

Or the anchor sinking the ship.

One leader can change everything. Positively or negatively.

After years of consulting senior executives on their company-wide culture transformation projects I'm now spending all of my time with a smaller group of leaders. Call them executive coaching clients or whatever you want. They are leaders of teams, divisions, business areas, or enterprises that aren't yet who they want to become.

We help successful executives grow their careers through strengthening their leadership effectiveness.

That's the phrase we wrote as we founded our firm.

Perhaps you're that leader who could benefit from our questions, perspective, and proprietary models. Or maybe you know that leader.  

DM me. 

I'd love to chat. 🎯

Russ Hill

In 2021, as GM pledged $35 billion to go all-electric by 2035 and Ford committed $50 billion to EV transformation, Akio Toyoda stood firm. Here's why this "mistake" became one of the smartest decisions:

While every major automaker announced aggressive EV timelines, Toyota's CEO refused to follow. Industry analysts predicted Toyota would lose its market leadership.

Environmental groups called the company "behind the times." Business publications questioned whether Toyoda understood the future.

Even some Toyota board members pushed for bolder EV commitments.

Toyoda said no.

Not because he feared change. Because he understood something most leaders forget: short-term applause and long-term results rarely align.

Instead of committing billions to full EV infrastructure like competitors, he doubled down on hybrid technology. The unglamorous middle ground everyone else abandoned.

While GM and Ford raced to build EV-only lineups, Toyota quietly perfected the Prius platform and invested in hydrogen fuel cells.

His principle was clear: engineering excellence and reliability matter more than market perception.

By 2023, as major automakers struggled with EV profitability and infrastructure challenges, Toyota's hybrid sales hit record highs. The patient approach was paying off.

The lesson isn't about EVs. It's about leadership.

The crowd wants you to move fast, chase trends, and make decisions that look good today. Real leaders protect tomorrow's outcomes, even when it disappoints today's critics.

Disciplined patience means having clear principles that outlast the noise. For Toyoda, that meant refusing to sacrifice engineering excellence for market perception, even when it meant years of criticism.

Want the complete framework for delivering results through disciplined patience instead of reactive decision-making? Deliver: Why Some Leaders Get Results And Most Don't: https://lnkd.in/eaiPFZhw

Cofounder of Lone Rock Leadership • Upgrade your managers • Human resources and leadership development

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Bernard Arnault runs the world's largest luxury group. Worth $400 billion in brands. 200,000 employees. Yet he still walks stores unannounced and checks for dust:

You'd expect someone at that level to be completely removed from day-to-day operations.

But this isn't micromanagement. It's how you protect an empire where standards can't slip even 1%.

Here's what most leaders miss about how quality actually dies:

A display case has a small scuff. Nobody fixes it because "customers probably won't notice." Next week, there are two scuffs. Then the lighting is slightly off. Then product arrangement gets sloppy.

Each moment feels insignificant.

But teams are watching what you walk past without comment.

At LVMH, Arnault knows that luxury exists in the details customers feel but can't articulate. The moment you accept "good enough," you've lost what made you special.

This is why he still checks himself.

When the CEO of a $400 billion company inspects store windows personally, it sends an unmistakable message: we protect what matters, even when nobody's watching.

The principle works everywhere:
- In manufacturing, run your hand along welds and joints. Feel what quality means.
- In customer service, read actual support tickets, not summary metrics.
- In sales, listen to full client calls, not highlight reels.

People perform to the standard you inspect, not the standard you expect.

Standards slip quietly. Great leaders don't.

This principle of visible reinforcement is central to creating environments where results compound instead of drift.

Ray Dalio records every meeting at Bridgewater and shares the tapes with all 1,500 employees. Most CEOs would call this insane. He calls it essential. Here's what most leaders didn't get: 

Most organizations treat transparency like a trust exercise. Dalio treated it like debugging code.

Every meeting recorded. Every decision tracked. Every outcome analyzed against the original logic.

When an investment thesis failed, they could replay exactly where the thinking broke down - not to blame, but to upgrade the decision-making system itself.

This is why Bridgewater's transparency worked when others' failed: it was designed for learning speed, not team bonding.

Here's the difference: At Bridgewater, people could challenge Dalio's investment thesis in front of 50 colleagues without fear of retaliation. But they couldn't avoid the data showing their last 3 predictions were wrong.

Real safety means you can surface hard truths. False safety means hard truths stay buried until quarterly results force them into the open.

Ask yourself: When was the last time someone 3 levels below you told you a project was failing before you discovered it yourself?

If the answer is "never" or "I can't remember," truth is moving too slowly through your organization.

And when truth moves slowly, so do results.

The question isn't whether truth will surface. It's whether it surfaces fast enough to matter.

Deliver: Why Some Leaders Get Results, And Most Don't shows you how to build systems where clarity drives performance without sacrificing trust: https://lnkd.in/eaiPFZhw

Your highest-performing team just put in three brutal months. The effort was there. The results weren't.

Before you question their commitment, Angela Duckworth's research on grit suggests you might be asking the wrong question.

Most leaders know Duckworth's work shows that perseverance matters. What they miss is the critical qualifier: grit only drives breakthrough results when it's anchored to clear goals and consistent feedback loops.

Without that foundation, what looks like admirable persistence is actually just expensive stubbornness.

Watch what happens when teams grind without clear direction. Effort multiplies while frustration compounds exponentially, and nobody can explain why all that hard work isn't moving the needle.

I saw a product team work 60-hour weeks for three months rebuilding a feature. Incredible effort, total commitment. The problem? Leadership kept saying "make it better" without defining what better actually meant.

They built five different versions before someone finally articulated clear success metrics. All that grit, pointed at a moving target.

The outcome wasn't breakthrough performance. It was exhausted people who couldn't understand why their grinding effort produced so little progress.

Here's what clarity actually requires: specific outcomes everyone can visualize, defined metrics that show real-time progress, and tight feedback loops that course-correct before effort becomes waste.

Without all three, you're not building grit. You're building frustration.

Before demanding more perseverance from your team, ask: Can every person clearly articulate the goal, their role in achieving it, and how they'll know they're making progress?

If you're getting vague answers, you don't have a grit problem. You have a clarity problem.

And no amount of perseverance fixes unclear direction.

Subscribe to my newsletter for leadership insights that cut through conventional wisdom and give you frameworks that actually work: https://lnkd.in/gsb3qeCF

Most leaders think their job is to motivate their team every morning. Jim Collins' research proves this is completely wrong. Here's why discipline beats motivation every time:

They show up with energy. They give the inspiring talk. They pump everyone up for the day ahead.

And when performance dips, they assume they need to motivate harder.

This is exhausting. More importantly, Collins' research shows great organizations don't run on charismatic speeches.

They build cultures where people do the right things even when no one's watching.

That's the difference between motivation and discipline. And discipline compounds while motivation fades.

Here's what Collins actually found:

The best companies don't depend on inspirational leaders who keep people fired up. They depend on systems where following through isn't optional - it's just how things work here.

This matters because motivation creates a dependency loop. You become the energy source. Your team waits for you to pump them up before they perform. The moment you stop, everything slows down.

You're the bottleneck.

Discipline works differently. It's the behaviors and standards that run without you. The meeting that always starts on time. The commitment that's always honored. The standard that never gets compromised.

Take that first one - meetings starting on time. Seems small. But when meetings always start on time, something shifts. People show up prepared because they know wasting 15 minutes isn't an option. Decisions get made faster because there's no buffer time. Accountability becomes normal because the standard is clear.

That's one small discipline compounding into faster decisions, better preparation, and stronger accountability. All without you having to motivate anyone.

Collins found this pattern everywhere in great companies. They don't have more charismatic leaders. They have more disciplined systems. The discipline stacks. It builds momentum that doesn't require constant energy input from the top.

Your job isn't to be the most motivating person in the room. It's to build repeatable behaviors into how your team operates. To shift from being the energy source to being the architect of systems that create their own momentum.

On the Lead In 30 podcast, Russ breaks down the repeatable behaviors that separate effective leaders from everyone else. Listen wherever you get your podcasts: https://lnkd.in/d_-Knwhy

In 2006, Indra Nooyi took over PepsiCo amid declining soda sales. Obesity criticism was rising. Analysts wanted quick fixes. She chose patience over panic and unlocked ~$57B in market value:

Instead of squeezing margins, Nooyi rebalanced the portfolio.

She introduced “Performance with Purpose.”

Not as branding. As strategy.

PepsiCo reorganized its products into 3 clear categories:

• Fun for You
• Better for You
• Good for You

Capital shifted toward healthier snacks, nutrition science, and product reformulation.

R&D spending nearly tripled.

Sodium was reduced.
Sugar was adjusted.
Packaging and water usage were cut across global operations.

She expanded into emerging markets.
She strengthened snacks, which began outperforming beverages.
New billion-dollar brands were added almost every other year.

During her 12-year tenure:

Revenue grew by more than 80%.
Market value rose dramatically.
PepsiCo reinforced its position as the world’s second-largest food and beverage company.

Nooyi proved purpose pays. PepsiCo’s stock returned 109% while competitors flatlined, and market value rose $57B.

But here’s what most leaders missed:

Nooyi didn’t chase trends. She used purpose as a capital allocation filter.

If it didn’t align with long-term positioning, it didn’t get funded.

Most executives react to quarterly pressure. She redirected resources before the consumer shift fully matured.

Purpose wasn’t soft. It shaped where money flowed. And that discipline compounded.

High-performing organizations don’t react.

They align capital, talent, and strategy around a clear direction.

If your “purpose” doesn’t influence investment decisions, it’s marketing.

Clarity → Alignment → Movement.

Join 12,000+ leaders who get weekly insights on building it:
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Isabel Ge Mahe faced an impossible challenge at Apple China: Scale in a market that demanded compromise on everything Apple stood for. Here's how she did it without bending on a single core principle:

She faced a market where local competitors dominated, government regulations demanded data localization, and consumers expected features Apple had never offered anywhere else.

Different regulations. Different customer expectations. Different competitive landscape.

Most leaders would have compromised the core to adapt. Build a cheaper iPhone. Loosen privacy standards. Partner with local manufacturers who didn't meet Apple's quality bar.

She didn't.

The paradox most leaders miss? Being crystal clear on what's non-negotiable actually makes you more adaptable, not less.

Isabel adapted execution relentlessly. She integrated WeChat Pay and Alipay when Apple typically controlled the payment experience. She worked with China Mobile on distribution when Apple preferred direct control. She navigated complex government relationships while other tech companies struggled.

But walk into any Apple Store in Shanghai or Beijing, and the experience is unmistakably Apple. The Genius Bar runs the same way. The packaging feels identical. The customer service standards don't bend.

That's the difference between adapting how you execute and abandoning who you are.

Most leaders confuse adaptation with compromise. They think being flexible means being loose with standards. So they either stay too rigid and fail to execute, or they bend on fundamentals and lose their identity.

The best leaders know the difference.

Think about your own team. What's actually non-negotiable? Not everything can be. If you're leading a sales team, maybe your non-negotiable is honest communication with customers. Everything else - your pitch structure, your demo format, your follow-up cadence - can adapt based on what works.

When you're clear about what you absolutely won't compromise, you free yourself to be radically flexible everywhere else. That clarity becomes your permission structure for smart adaptation.

Ask yourself: If I had to move my team to a different city, different industry, different company - what would I absolutely insist on maintaining? That's your short list of non-negotiables. Everything else is negotiable.

This is the framework: be clear about what is non-negotiable and flexible everywhere else.

Sounds simple. But here's why most leaders struggle with it - they've never been forced to articulate their actual non-negotiables. They confuse preferences with principles. They think everything matters equally.

That's exactly what Lead In 30 helps you clarify. In 30 days, you'll identify your true non-negotiables, build the execution skills to adapt everywhere else, and develop the leadership clarity that drives real results. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/g6wjxWmv

Image credit: Apple

You don't wait until you feel brave enough to lead. Katharine Graham proved this when she took over The Washington Post in 1963. She wasn't ready. She knew it. Everyone around her knew it too...

Her husband had run the paper. She'd never led anything. When he died, she inherited chaos and doubt in equal measure. Board members questioned whether she could handle it. One executive reportedly dismissed her as "just a housewife" playing publisher.

But she accepted the responsibility anyway.

In 1971, the Pentagon Papers decision landed on her desk. Her lawyers warned that publishing classified documents could mean prison time and the end of The Washington Post. The company was about to go public, one wrong move could kill the deal and everything they'd built.

She could barely sleep. But she knew staying silent would betray what journalism existed for.

She published.

About a year later, Watergate. Two reporters she barely knew were chasing a sitting president. The pressure was different this time—not just legal threats, but direct White House intimidation. Her business advisors begged her to back down.

But something had shifted in her. The Pentagon Papers decision had shown her she could survive choosing right over safe.

She backed her reporters.

Those decisions didn't come from some innate courage gene. They came from a pattern she'd built. The Pentagon Papers taught her she could survive choosing principle over safety. That experience gave her the foundation for Watergate. Each hard choice built the muscle for the next one.

This is how leadership courage actually develops. Not through waiting until you feel confident. Through taking responsibility when you don't.

Your courage builds the same way Graham's did. The budget conversation you're avoiding. The underperformer you need to address. The strategic pivot everyone resists. Each one builds capacity for the next.

One difficult decision at a time. One moment of choosing discipline over fear. The results compound.

My new book, Deliver: Why Some Leaders Get Results And Most Don't, shows you the framework for building this discipline into lasting results.: https://lnkd.in/eaiPFZhw

Ken Chenault had employees trapped in the towers on 9/11. Every CEO faced the same chaos. But only one stayed calm. Here's why his composure mattered more than his crisis plan:

American Express headquarters stood just blocks from the World Trade Center. Communication systems were failing. Financial markets had shut down. Most leaders would have spiraled into reactive mode.

Chenault did something different.
He didn't rush to create a 47-point response plan. He didn't send panicked memos. He didn't call emergency meetings every hour.

He regulated himself first.
Then he focused on 3 things: Get people to safety. Communicate honestly. Keep the business functioning.

While other companies created confusion with contradictory directives and constant pivots, Chenault's composure created clarity.

His team knew what mattered. They could act decisively instead of second-guessing every move.

Here's what most leaders miss: Your calm matters more than your plan.

When you're reactive, your entire team becomes reactive. Decisions get worse because everyone's operating from fear. Priorities blur because panic spreads faster than clarity.

When you're calm, you create the conditions for clear thinking. Your team can execute instead of just surviving.

This isn't soft leadership advice. It's a competitive advantage that determines who recovers and who doesn't.

The gap between knowing calm matters and staying calm under pressure? That's where most leaders fail.

Deliver: Why Some Leaders Get Results, And Most Don't teaches the frameworks that turn this insight into action. If you lead a team through uncertainty, this book will change how you show up when it matters most.

Image source: Aspen Economic

Most leaders think they have an accountability problem. They don’t. They have a self-accountability problem. Here’s what I’ve seen working with leaders at Lone Rock:

When teams feel stuck, it rarely starts with performance. It starts with mindset.

You hear it in the language:
“That’s not my job.”
“They won’t let us.”
“Leadership hasn’t decided.”
“We tried that before.”

That's when blame replaces ownership, excuses justify inaction and energy leaks out of the room. And the harder leaders push, the more resistance they create.

This is what I call the “powerless” trap.

Most leaders respond by tightening metrics, adding process, or increasing oversight.

But powerless cultures don’t need more control. They need a shift in where power is generated.

That’s why we teach PowerOS. PowerOS is a simple framework that helps people move from reactive to proactive by focusing on the only three places power actually exists:

- Get Curious
Where am I making assumptions? Where am I giving my power away through my story?

- Choose Your Control
What thoughts, choices, and actions are actually within my influence right now?

- Create Momentum
What consistent behaviors will reinforce ownership instead of reactivity?

When leaders model this, language changes fast. Victim thinking drops, decision velocity increases, and then the energy returns.

I’m hosting a live 45-minute webinar next week: From Powerless to Powerful: How Leaders Generate Ownership

If you lead a team and want:
• Less blame and more ownership
• Fewer excuses and more initiative
• A practical framework you can use immediately

Join me.

I’ll walk through how to implement PowerOS with your team and where most leaders unintentionally undermine ownership.

Register here:
https://lnkd.in/gs4iwDsW

Would love to see you there.

2014: Microsoft is drifting. Innovation slows. Internal rivalries dominate. Wall Street questions relevance. Satya Nadella takes over and does something unexpected:

The stack-ranking system forces managers to rank employees against each other.

No mass layoffs. No public culture purge. No flashy rebrand.

Instead, he removes one system: Stack ranking.

For years, employees were graded against each other.

Top bucket. Middle bucket. Bottom bucket.

Collaboration was risky. Helping a peer could hurt your ranking.

First leadership cycle without it? Confusion.

Managers ask: “How do we differentiate performance?”

Nadella reframes the standard:

From “know-it-all” to “learn-it-all.”

Curiosity becomes measurable.
Collaboration becomes expected.
Leaders are evaluated on collective outcomes, not individual dominance.

Then comes the strategic shift:

“Mobile first. Cloud first.”

Microsoft stops protecting Windows at all costs.
Products ship on iOS and Android.
Azure becomes the priority.

Teams that once competed now have to build together.

Azure scales into a global cloud platform.
LinkedIn and GitHub expand the ecosystem.
Microsoft regains relevance in cloud and AI.

Eventually, the company crosses a $3 trillion market cap.

But here’s what most leaders miss: Nadella didn’t motivate alignment.

He removed the system that made misalignment rational.

If incentives reward rivalry, you’ll get silos.
If performance systems punish collaboration, you’ll get ego.
If culture and strategy aren’t aligned, execution stalls.

Most leaders swing between two extremes:

• The Nice Leader: strong culture, weak accountability
• The Hard Driver: strong targets, fractured teams

Both fail.

Because they think alignment is soft.

Nadella proved it’s structural.

He made collaboration measurable.
He made learning a standard.
He made strategy dependent on alignment.

Clarity → Alignment → Movement.

Want more research-backed insights on leadership?

Join 11,000+ leaders who get our weekly newsletter:

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2018: Tesla was deep in “production hell.” Targets were slipping. Engineers were layering fixes on top of fixes. Elon Musk sent a blunt directive: Delete the part.

“If you’re not adding back at least 10% of what you delete, you didn’t delete enough.”

He laid out a 5-step engineering order:

1. Make requirements less dumb.
2. Delete the part or process.
3. Simplify or optimize.
4. Accelerate cycle time.
5. Automate.

Most organizations reverse it.

They automate broken systems.
They optimize complexity.
They add dashboards to manage friction instead of removing it.

Musk forced teams to justify every requirement.

Every component had to earn its existence.

That mindset showed up in Tesla’s push to simplify manufacturing, reduce part counts, and vertically integrate critical systems.

The principle wasn’t about speed. It was about subtraction before scale.

Complexity compounds silently. So does simplification.

Most leaders respond to problems by adding layers.

The disciplined ones remove them.

Before you improve performance, ask:

What shouldn’t exist?

That’s where execution really accelerates.

If you want a deeper look at the disciplines that separate fast organizations from slow ones, I break them down in Deliver:

https://lnkd.in/eaiPFZhw

You can't demand outcomes from people who don't believe they belong. Deborah Bial proved this when she founded The Posse Foundation in 1989. Here's the leadership lesson that separates high-performing teams:

She was working with high-achieving students who kept dropping out of top colleges. They had the grades, the test scores, the talent. But many were leaving anyway because they didn't believe they belonged in those environments.

So she rebuilt belief first. College graduation rates for participants jumped to over 90%.

Most leaders get this backwards.

They set aggressive Q4 targets for the new manager who's never hit quota before. They assign the high-stakes client presentation to the junior person who's convinced they'll mess it up. They promote someone into leadership and expect immediate results without addressing their impostor syndrome first.

The results break down every time.

Belief isn't soft leadership. It's the foundation that makes performance possible.

When someone doesn't believe they can succeed, no amount of pressure will fix it. The performance gap isn't about effort or accountability. It's about confidence and ownership.

The warning signs are subtle. Someone with a belief gap will ask for excessive confirmation before making decisions, over-prepare for meetings but still seem uncertain, deflect credit when they do succeed, and frame every setback as proof they don't belong.

These aren't performance issues. They're belief issues masquerading as performance issues.

Before you demand better results, ask yourself: Does this person believe they're capable of delivering them?

If the answer is no, have a different conversation. Ask them what would make them feel more confident tackling this. Listen for whether they need more context, clearer authority, skill development, or just permission to make mistakes. Then address that first, before you talk about deadlines or metrics.

Your job isn't to push harder. It's to build belief first.

Subscribe to Russ's newsletter for weekly leadership insights that help you build high-performing teams without the fluff: https://lnkd.in/gsb3qeCF

Most leaders think fast decisions prove they're decisive. Howard Marks built a $170B investment firm by doing the opposite. Here's the one question that changed everything:

While other investors rushed to buy during market euphoria in 2006, Marks would gather his team at Oaktree Capital and ask: "What is everyone else assuming, and what are they missing?"

That single question helped Oaktree avoid the 2008 financial crisis while their competitors collapsed.

They didn't just survive. They acquired distressed assets at historic discounts and generated billions in returns.

The difference wasn't speed. It was thinking quality.

Here's how this played out in 2006-2007:

First-level thinking said: "Real estate has gone up for 5 straight years. Housing prices never fall nationally. This is a great investment."

Second-level thinking asked: "Everyone believes housing only goes up. But what happens if interest rates rise? What percentage of these mortgages are subprime? If defaults increase even slightly, what's the cascade effect?"

Most investors used first-level thinking. They saw rising prices and bought more.

Marks used second-level thinking. He saw the same data but examined the assumptions underneath.

The result: Oaktree positioned for the crash while others were wiped out.

The same principle applies when you're evaluating any major decision.

Before your next big call, write down the consensus view. Then force yourself to answer: What would have to be true for the consensus to be wrong?

That's your entry into second-level thinking.

The difference isn't intelligence. It's discipline.

My new book, Deliver, breaks down the exact disciplines that separate leaders who deliver from those who don't: https://lnkd.in/eaiPFZhw

In exit interviews, 67% of departing employees say they flagged the problem that made them quit months before they left. Here's the uncomfortable truth about why execution fails:

Your team already knows what's broken.

They know which projects are doomed. They know which clients are problems. They know the exact moment a deadline became impossible.

The question isn't whether they have the information. The question is whether you've created an environment where they feel safe telling you.

Most leaders think execution fails because of bad data, unclear priorities, or poor planning. But here's what actually happens: your team sees the problem, does the math, recognizes the risk, and then stays silent.

Why?
Because they're watching to see if you're the kind of leader who shoots the messenger or faces reality.

Every organization has this moment. The project fails. The client leaves. The launch misses. Then comes the autopsy where everyone discovers the team saw it coming weeks ago.

The failure wasn't the outcome. The failure was the silence.

Here's how to test if you're tolerating that silence right now:

In your next 1-on-1, ask this question: "What's the one thing everyone on the team knows is broken that we're not talking about?"

Then stay quiet. Don't fill the silence. Don't defend. Don't explain.

Their answer tells you everything about your team's candor. Their hesitation tells you even more.

Most leaders won't ask this question because they're afraid of the answer. They'd rather manage around the problem than confront it directly.

But execution doesn't fail because teams lack information. It fails because leaders tolerate avoidance instead of demanding truth.

The choice is simple: be the leader who asks for more reports to explain the failure, or be the leader who says, "We all know what's actually happening here. Let's fix it."

The truth rarely destroys teams. Avoiding it does.

Subscribe to my weekly newsletter for leadership insight that helps you close the gap between knowing and doing: https://lnkd.in/gsb3qeCF

Most leaders run from storms. Reed Timmer drives a reinforced vehicle straight into EF5 tornadoes while other meteorologists watch from 50 miles away. 

He's collected data that revolutionized how we predict severe weather. His edge? Getting close to what everyone else avoids.

That's the difference between managing and leading.

When you avoid hard conversations, they don't disappear. The senior developer who misses deadlines and dismisses feedback in every 1-on-1. You've rescheduled the performance conversation three times because confrontation feels uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, two junior developers are now copying his approach because that's what they see rewarded.

The storm you avoided? It just got three times bigger.

Avoidance feels like protection. It's actually compounding debt with interest you can't afford.

Smart leaders do the opposite. They run what I call the Tornado Test: If you're hoping the problem resolves itself, that's your signal to drive straight toward it.

Your VP of Sales missed quota three quarters in a row. Everyone on the leadership team knows it. Nobody wants to start succession planning. While you wait, your best account executives are interviewing elsewhere because they see the writing on the wall.

Small storms are manageable with direct action. Ignored storms destroy entire teams.

The question isn't whether you'll face turbulence. It's whether you'll confront it now with a plan or later when it's 10 times more expensive.

Ask yourself: What's the one conversation I've been postponing? The one initiative everyone knows is failing, but nobody addresses?

That's your tornado.

Subscribe to our newsletter where I break down the exact frameworks leaders use to identify and confront their biggest storms before they become crises: https://lnkd.in/gsb3qeCF

Mellody Hobson asks leaders one diagnostic question: "If I gave you our P&L with the labels removed, could you identify which lines drive profitability and which are cost centers?"

Most can't answer it.

That's the gap between strategic theater and strategic leadership.

I watched a director greenlight a product expansion without understanding customer acquisition cost. Six months in, they'd spent $2M acquiring customers worth $800K lifetime value.

The vision was clear. The economics weren't.

Leaders who avoid the numbers avoid accountability. 

They create ambiguity for their teams. They can't answer the hard questions because they don't understand the mechanics behind their own decisions.

Here's the test: Can you explain your business model to a smart 12-year-old without looking at a spreadsheet?

If you can't explain how you make money, what it costs to acquire a customer, and which metrics actually matter, you don't understand the mechanics of what you're leading.

Financial literacy is execution literacy. And execution is what separates leaders who deliver from leaders who just talk.

I dig into the mechanics behind effective execution on the Lead In 30 podcast. If you're ready to move past leadership theory and into what actually works, listen here: https://lnkd.in/d_-Knwhy

Under Travis Kalanick, Uber became Silicon Valley’s fastest growth machine. Cities were conquered. Regulators challenged. Growth was the culture. Then an internal memo went public.

By 2017, Uber was operating in more than 70 countries.

Revenue had scaled from near zero in 2010 to roughly $6.5 billion in 2016.

Its private valuation approached $68–70 billion, making it one of the most valuable startups in the world.

Expansion was relentless.

New markets launched aggressively.
Competitors were outspent.
Regulatory battles were embraced, not avoided.

Speed wasn’t a tactic. It was the identity.

Then, in early 2017, engineer Susan Fowler published a blog post detailing harassment, retaliation, and systemic cultural failures inside Uber.

What followed:

• Internal investigations
• Executive departures
• Public backlash (#DeleteUber trended globally)
• Board pressure from major investors

In June 2017, Kalanick resigned as CEO.

Here’s the uncomfortable lesson:

Uber didn’t struggle because it moved fast. It struggled because discipline didn’t scale with ambition.

Incentives rewarded growth above all else.

Governance lagged.
Cultural standards were inconsistent.
High performers were protected if they delivered results.

Results masked fragility.

Hero leadership can drive early momentum. But personality is not a governance system. When growth outpaces structure, misalignment compounds quietly. Until it surfaces publicly.

High-performing organizations don’t just scale revenue. They scale accountability.

The question for leaders isn’t: “Are we winning?”

It’s: “Would our system survive scrutiny at this scale?”

Ambition builds momentum. Discipline builds durability.

If you want a deeper look at how disciplined execution separates resilient organizations from fragile ones, I explore it in Deliver:

https://lnkd.in/eaiPFZhw

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