Upsize Your Leadership, 8117 Preston Road, Suite 300, Dallas, TX (2026)

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08/17/2026

Mike'𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘅𝗶𝗺s: People skills never become unimportant. Today's maxim explains why they become even more important the further we advance in management.

08/13/2026

What shows a leader’s true character—having no power or having a lot of it?
This new episode digs into the surprising truth: both moments reveal different sides of who you really are.

We talk about how powerlessness exposes resilience, how power exposes intentions, and why personality alone can’t carry a leader when the stakes get high.

If you want to grow your leadership from the inside out, this episode is a must‑listen.

08/10/2026

There's no greater leadership responsibility than keeping distrust at bay.

08/06/2026

After three days of work on a task that you've assigned, your best worker hears five spirit-crushing words from you: "That's not what I wanted." How do you avoid such moments?

My latest podcast episode examines that question in detail. It examines how lack of clarity in tasking conversations leads to situations like this.

I lay out four questions that every tasking conversation must address to assure that proper clarity is maintained on the part of both the leader and the person being tasked.

And I show why clarity in tasking communication becomes more imperative the higher you go in management.

You can check out the episode at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2609-clarity.htm.

08/05/2026

The trust people have in a leader rests on a three-legged stool. If the stool wobbles, trust wanes..

The name of the stool is credibility. Each of the legs represents a different aspect of personal credibility.

The first leg is credible character. For purely social relationships or close friendships, we readily extend trust if the other person demonstrates good character.

So, if you and I meet at an executive mixer and get to know one another, then cross paths and visit on other occasions in the weeks ahead, I will note the signals that you send regarding your character. If those signals are consistent with strong character, I will bestow trust on you.

For instance, imagine that we are at another mixer a few weeks later. We don't initially have a chance to talk. Then you receive a text calling you back to the office.

On the way out the door you hurry over to offer the courtesy of a handshake before you leave. But as you greet me, you suddenly realize that you left your wallet on your desk back at the office.

You therefore sheepishly ask if I could bail you out by lending the money to get out of the parking garage. "I'll pay you back later this week," you say.

Because I trust you, I will readily reach for my billfold and give you what you need. My trust rests fully on your character.

But now let's imagine that you're my dentist. Before I'll trust you to start drilling in my mouth, I'm going to demand more than character from you. I will, of course, want you to have credible character,because I don't want you to gouge me on my bill.

But I will also need assurance that you have credible professional skills. If you don't, I may trust you as a person. But I won't trust you to work on my teeth.

Thus, the second leg of the three-legged stool is credible competence. It's as vital for trust in professional relationships as character is for trust in social relationships.

Now, let's imagine another scenario. In this case, you're not my dentist. I report to you as my leader at work. Again, I will want you to be a person of character, because I want you to treat me honestly and fairly.

I will also want to be professionally competent. If I'm to trust your directions, I need to feel assured that you "know your stuff," so to speak.

But I'm also looking for concrete, verifiable results that validate your credibility as an effective leader. It's not enough for you to provide a pleasant work environment or to run a smooth operation. Your were named to a leadership role to attain established desired outcomes.

If you fail to do so, I will lose trust in you as a leader. I may still respect or even admire you as a person and a professional. But I will no longer trust you as my leader.

Thus, as leaders we must continuously work on keeping all three legs of the stool in good repair: credible character, credible competence, and credible results. Otherwise our leadership sits on a wobbly stool.

08/04/2026

Executives don’t operate in a vacuum. They operate in an ecosystem of interpretation. And that ecosystem is always listening.

It's putting meaning on what the executive leader says or does not says. What the leader does or does not do.
• Delayed responses can be interpreted as disinterest.
• Quick decisions can be interpreted as impulsiveness.
• Thorough guidance can be interpreted as micromanagement.

In effect, executive leaders are always communicating, even when they are not speaking.

The challenge for them to maintain enough feedback loops that they understand the unintended meanings that people have attached to their actions.

Compounding the challenge is that decisions at the executive level operate across multiple dimensions simultaneously. Here are some of the more consequential dimensions.
• 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰: Does the decision align with our long-term direction?
• 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹: Can we execute this decision with the resources that we have?
• 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹: What are the implications for margin, cash flow, and valuation?
• 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹: What does this decision signal about who we are?
• 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹: How will this be interpreted by peers, partners, and stakeholders?
• 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻: Who will this impact, and how will they react?
• 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹: What does this mean for internal and external trust?

But here's the complicating factor. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. As a result, the ecosystem of interpretation is fed a steady supply of fodder for miscommunication and misunderstanding to occur.

That's why the best executives aren't the ones who make the 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 decisions. They're the ones who make the 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 decisions. Decisions which are thought through thoroughly and grounded in clarity.

Executives must often make decisions with incomplete data, under time pressure, needing to balance competing priorities and satisfy stakeholders who want conflicting outcomes.

That's an open invitation for the ecosystem of interpretation to misunderstand the executive's intent, to second guess the executive's decisions, and to misapply the executive's words.

When these things happen, executives must resist the temptation to become defensive or to limit communication in the future. Misinterpretations are feedback. They point to places where better communication strategies and techniques are called for.

As an executive, you are continually advised to communicate, communicate, communicate. It's equally important to listen, listen, listen to feedback from your communication.

Listen for what was misunderstood. For what was misrepresented. For what could have been more clearly conveyed. Apply what you learn to future communication so that the ecosystem of interpretation becomes your ally, not your adversary.

08/03/2026

The Gallup organization just confirmed it again. 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁 – 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹.

For almost a quarter of a century, Gallup has annually surveyed the public’s trust, especially in social, business, and government institutions.

Their 2026 survey, recently released, shows that fewer than one American in three has significant trust in
- public schools
- the medical system
- big business
- banks
- Congress
- the Supreme Court
- the criminal justice system

Even churches and organized religion fared little better. Only 33% of those surveyed described themselves as having a great deal or quite a lot of trust in the religious community.

Tellingly, that was exactly the same percentage who said that they had very little or no trust in organized religion.

Yet, this is the very society from which we draw our workforce. Leaders can no longer assume that their workers are naturally inclined toward trust. Distrust has reached epidemic proportions in our society.

Given our age of distrust, leaders must pursue trust-building as a strategic priority. Building trust is in essence like practicing preventive medicine. It’s corporate culture’s defense against the virus of distrust that constantly threatens to slip into our organization from the climate of distrust outside.

Trust is the glue that holds us together when the times are rough. It's too late to form trust once the tough times set in. We don't create trust in rough time so much as we fall back on it.

As a result, executive leaders can ill afford to consider trust-building as a soft skill. It's a survival skill.

What's your perspective on this? Do you sense that trust is in far shorter supply today than it was not many years ago? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

-building

07/30/2026

Left to their own devices, standards in corporate culture tend toward mediocrity. The podcast that I posted today tackles that problem head on.

What if you had a results-oriented culture that demanded excellence of itself? Not excellence demanded by the leader. Not excellence imposed by the company. Excellence that the culture demands of itself.

Impossible? My podcast argues that it’s altogether possible. Such a culture does not emerge overnight. It’s the result of dedicated, purposeful work on the part of leadership.

But today’s episode argues that it can be done.

It shows how an enduring commitment to excellence evolves naturally when leaders put four precedents in place:
• Exemplify extraordinary character
• Cultivate high trust
• Maximize alignment around values, vision, and strategies
• Engage people in ways that motivate and inspire them

This is the final episode in a six-part series on Five Leadership Essentials. Creating a results-oriented culture that demands excellence of itself is the fifth essential.

It's this kind of culture that sets pacesetting organizations apart from those who merely survive, but never really thrive.

Find the link to this episode in the comments section below.

07/22/2026

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀.

According to 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦s, 𝟴𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀.

That's not a problem that leadership can overcome with more enticing incentives. Incentives have repeatedly shown to have only short-term performance benefit.

Engagement problems, however, call for durable solutions.Those solutions must address structural and systemic issues which underlie lack of engagement.

𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 “m𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲.” 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲. When engagement drops, it’s rarely because people suddenly dislike their work. It’s because the conditions surrounding the work have shifted in ways that make contribution feel harder, less meaningful, or less sustainable.

When leadership doesn't recognize how these shifts are undermining motivation, the stage is set for worker disengagement.

Over the past three years, several structural forces have converged: accelerated AI adoption, reorganizations, cost‑cutting cycles, hybrid work inconsistencies, and rising expectations for speed and output.

These pressures didn’t just change workflows—they changed the psychological contract between organizations and their people.

Today’s disengagement is a signal. And leaders who treat it as a signal—not a complaint—will be the ones who rebuild resilient, high‑trust cultures.

What structural or systemic realities are you seeing that foster disengagement?

07/21/2026

Leaders pay dearly for something that most never measure. It's what economists call "discretionary effort."

It's the gap between the least that a worker can do without getting into trouble and the most that the person is capable of giving.

As a manager, you can command the least. You can write it into a contract. Monitor it. Enforce it.

But you can never command the most. You have no power to mandate discretionary effort. Workers give it 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺, or it's not given at all.

Yet, every ounce of discretionary effort withheld from the company is an ounce of productivity and efficiency that will never improve the bottom line.

The only solution is for leaders to excel at motivating and inspiring workers so that they are genuinely engaged. Engagement yields the discretionary effort that management is not allowed to demand.
In the latest episode of my podcast 𝘜𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, I give you a perspective on motivation, inspiration, and engagement that you've probably not encountered before.

My podcast views motivation as the result of connecting the vision of the leader to the personal values of the worker. Leaders create this connection by stoking the motives of the worker.

Every motive is linked inseparably to one or more values. Or to put it another way, people have no motive to pursue something which has no value for them.

The strength of motivation depends on how much someone cherishes the value linked to the motive. The more a value is cherished , the greater the emotional energy driving the motive. Ultimately, emotion determines the durability of motivation.

The formula underlying the podcast is Activated Motive + Energizing Emotion = Durable Motivation.

Catch the episode at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2607-engagement.htm.

Upsize Your Leadership

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