Upsize Your Leadership, 8117 Preston Road, Suite 300, Dallas, TX (2025)

Q: What is the website?

https://www.UpsizeYourLeadership.com/

12/23/2025

My latest episode of Upsize Your Leadership examines a critical -- and potentially dangerous -- miscalculation in the Trump administration's peace proposals for the Russia-Ukraine war.

Drawing on my years of working and leading extensive operations in nations of the former Soviet Union (including extensive time in Donbas, the primary battleground in the current conflict), I offer a ground‑level perspective that challenges prevailing assumptions in U.S. diplomatic strategy.

Longtime listeners will recall that on the eve of Russia’s 2022 invasion, I used my podcast to predict that Ukraine would mount a fierce and unexpectedly effective resistance, contrary to global expectations of rapid Russian victory.

Time proved that prediction correct. Now, as new peace proposals circulate among world leaders, another flawed assumption may once again lead policymakers astray. Check out the podcast at https://www.upsizeyourleadership/episodes/2511-flawed-assumption.htm.

12/22/2025

Thirty years ago, snarled in stop-and-holiday traffic, I composed a Christmas carol. Over the years I've shared it periodically with close friends, even singing it a few times with small groups.

For Christians everywhere, here are the lyrics

________

CALL HIS NAME EMMANUEL

There's a child born in a manger,
One of whom the prophets tell,
Long-awaited
Son of David,
Holy One of Israel.
Born the hope of every nation,
Promise of a new creation.
Let us bow in adoration,
Call His name Emmanuel
Sin has cast a mortal shadow
Which our race cannot dispel.
He has come to
Be our rescue,
God Himself with man to dwell.
From the heavens spreading o'er us
Hear the sound of angel chorus
Telling of His mercy toward us.
Call His name Emmanuel.

Sage and shepherd search to find
The King of Whom the stars now tell,
Great Messiah,
Lord most high a
Son of God and man as well.
Death's dark reign at last is ending,
Christ Himself is now descending,
God and flesh together blending.
Call His name Emmanuel.

10/31/2025

Why do some businesses do so many things right, but fail anyway? It's often because they use the wrong metrics to measure success.

My podcast this week takes up that topic by exploring the popular use of business scorecards. Companies everywhere rely on scorecards to track how well they are doing.

But business scorecards have a glaring blind spot. They can only tell you what has worked for you in the past. Their anticipation of the future is limited to straight-line projections of the past.

Today, however, change occurs so rapidly and so extensively that what worked yesterday frequently will not work tomorrow.

Alongside scorecards that tell us where we are at present, we need tools and methodologies to assess how prepared we are for the future.

My podcast provides a four-part approach to making that very assessment.

Check it out at https://www.upsizeyourleadership.com/episodes/2410-biz-scorecards.htm.

10/29/2025

RELIABILITY SETS THE BEST APART

In a world obsessed with innovation, speed, and disruption, we rarely put a spotlight on reliability. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t trend.

But in the day-to-day realities of business, reliability is the bedrock of trust, consistency, and long-term success.

And this is true for both individuals and businesses. Over time, few things profit us more than a reputation for being reliable.

Vital to this reputation is reliability in fulfilling what we promise, in the services and products that we provide, and in the timeliness and manner in which we deliver them.

People who are reliable show up prepared. They follow through. We don't have to remind them regularly to get back on task and on schedule. And we rarely — if ever — need to rescue them

Such quiet dependability creates a ripple effect — reducing friction, building confidence, and enabling others to perform at their best.

Reliability isn’t just about punctuality or task completion. It’s about emotional steadiness. It’s about being someone others can count on, especially when things get messy.

In environments where the stakes are high, reliable people serve as anchors. Their presence calms the room. Their word carries weight. Their actions reinforce stability.

It's common for leaders to mandate reliability. But to instill reliability through their entire organization, leaders must themselves model reliability as a personal core value.

When leaders consistently follow through—on promises, feedback, and expectations—they create a culture where accountability feels natural, not forced.

Teams begin to mirror the leader's behavior. Deadlines are met. Communication improves. Trust deepens.

In the end, the most trusted people aren’t always the loudest or the boldest. They’re the ones who deliver consistently and do so with quiet predictability.

10/27/2025

QUIT TRYING TO EARN TRUST

We commonly talk about earning trust. The truth is, we can't.

When we earn something, we obligate someone to pay for what we've earned. But no one has has an obligation to trust us.

Trust, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. We don't earn people's trust. They voluntarily grant it.

If they choose to withhold trust, no power at our disposal can obligate them to do otherwise.

That being the case, we need to forsake any notion of earning people's trust.

Instead, we should strive to exemplify such character and conduct that people feel naturally inclined to trust us..

Many managers believe that they should be trusted simply because of their management position.But there's no law in the universe to that effect.

Workers grant trust or withhold it solely at their own discretion. It's the one place that they are empowered 100%.

Therefore, our task as managers and leaders is not to earn trust, but to demonstrate such consistent trustworthiness that we make it easy for others to trust us.

10/25/2025

QUESTIONS THAT BUILD WORKER SELF-WORTH

Incessant change dominates the workplace. Relentless pressure to perform is everywhere. Automation and AI breed worker insecurity.

This all takes a toll on how workers view their self-worth. They legitimately wonder at times whether they are just another dispensable cog in their company’s machinery.

For employees, self-worth is not simply something nice to have. It’s a core driver of engagement, creativity, and resilience.

For leaders, therefore, the ability to cultivate a sense of self-worth in others is not a soft skill. It’s a strategic imperative if our goal is to optimize each worker’s contribution.

When people feel that they matter, they take initiative. They collaborate more generously. They put heart into solving problems.

So how do leaders help people feel a high sense of self-worth?

It starts by seeing a worker as a person, not merely as someone in a role. We evaluate roles in terms of their output. But people are far more than their output.

Outputs don’t have self-worth. People thrive on it.

They form their sense of self-worth around three questions:
• Is there any value to what I do?
• Is there any value to who I am?
• Is there any value to what I may become?

Praising them only for what they do is better than not praising them at all. But it answers only one of these three “value” questions.

The other two – the value of who I am and the value of what I may become – are sometimes best enforced by leaders by using carefully-chosen questions. Here are some examples.
• What part of your work gives you the greatest satisfaction?
• In what ways would you like to grow over the next two years?
• What’s something that you’re proud of that others might not notice?

Questions like these convey the implied message, “As your manager, I see great value in who you are as a person. And I also see great value in what you may become.”

Managers often rely on praise and recognition as their primary avenues for motivating individual workers.

Even more motivational for some, however, are questions which imply that their managers views both the worker and the worker’s potential as having great value.

10/21/2025

VALUES FIRST, THEN VISION

Unpredictable, disruptive change has become a way of life in American business.

As an initial step in strategic planning, consultants have historically encouraged clients to refiner their long-range vision.

But given the pace at which technology and marketplaces are changing, it's difficult to anticipate our competitive landscape four or five years from now.

What we can do, however, is to delineate the orchestrating values that should prevail in our organizations, whatever the landscape.

When we operate consistently from the right values, with a general notion of where we want to go, clearer vision will come in due course. And guided by these embedded values, the resulting vision is likely to be wise, prudent, and well-framed.

The fact is, many business owners are technically oriented, not conceptually oriented. For many of them, vision does not come naturally or easily.

But everyone can quickly identify values that they want for their business. Therefore, clarify values first and foremost.

Then against the backdrop of those values, set the general direction that you want to pursue. Let vision emerge of its own accord.

10/20/2025

VISION AND MISSION STATEMENTS NEED SOMETHING MORE

Alongside their vision and mission statements, I urge clients to write an identity statement.

It's not necessarily for public dissemination. But it's invaluable for keeping the organization on track.

A strong corporate identity statement is more than a branding exercise. It communicates the character and soul of your organization.

At the same time, it differentiates you from your competition. A distinctive identity helps you stand out, attract the right workers and audience, and command premium positioning in the eyes of the public.

To get to the heart of your identity, mull over questions like these:
• Beyond profit, what is our purpose?
• How do we want customers to perceive us?
• What feelings do we want our brand to evoke in customers? In vendors?
• How do we want workers to describe our organization to their friends?
• What do we want others in our industry to say about us?
• What makes people proud to be associated with our organization?

I'm not suggesting these questions as a template. They simply illustrate types of questions which help clarify the identity that we desire.

Everyone recognizes the value of vision and mission statements. Yet identity statements are equally vital. As a rule of thumb, identity trumps vision and mission.

This is especially true where vision or mission statements conflict with an organization's sense of who it is. When this occurs, identity traits routinely win out over the interests of vision and mission. That's why clarifying our identity — and remolding it where called for — is indispensable for optimizing effectiveness.

08/27/2025

Are you a Christian executive or business owner who wants Christian values and outlooks to have maximum influence on your corporate culture?

Would you like to be part of a mastermind group dedicated to that very end?

Then, you'll want to check out the Christian Executive Council. It's a joint undertaking of my company (Strategic Leadership Development International) and C-Suite for Christ (a Wisconsin-based non-profit).

Earlier this week, we hosted an online informational session for people interested in the mastermind. Over 100 registered for the event and already over a dozen people have applied for membership.

Find full details about what's planned at the Council's website 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺. We launch soon and seats are limited. So visit the site now to assure yourself a place.

08/11/2025

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿

Your first 90 days in a new managerial post set the tone for months or years to come. What’s the most important thing for you to accomplish in those 90 days?

In my book 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴t, I argue that your foremost task is to develop your team’s trust of both you and your leadership.

Yes, it’s essential to build faith in your competence during the first 90 days. Demonstrated competence, however, is a component of trust-building.

Moreover, if we put too much focus on proving our competence in a new role, we risk coming across quickly as a know-it-all. And people don’t instinctively trust know-it-alls.

Too much emphasis on competence can thus impede trust, not foster it.If you are doing the proper things to encourage trust, your competence will soon become evident. You won’t have to go out of your way to demonstrate it.

Three things are especially important in establishing early trust in your leadership.

𝟭. L𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

Spend time understanding the organization’s rhythms, its pain points, and the aspirations of its people. Ask questions to gain perspective. Take note of what people identify as concerns, but don’t feel compelled to offer immediate fixes.

Ironically, we build trust faster by listening well than by having a ready solution for every problem.

𝟮. B𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲

Make it easy for people to engage you in conversation. Practice what I call “strategic mingling.”

That is, make regular opportunities to circulate among your people, not just to shake hands and learn names. Instead, ask questions which demonstrate genuine interest in each person individually.

Trust grows when people feel personally valued, heard, and understood. Use strategic mingling to convey that message in every conversation.

𝟯. B𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵

The credibility of your word is one of the most pivotal trust-builders. Especially early on, be extremely conscientious in following through with what you promise to do.

Even small commitments matter. What seems small to you may be emotionally significant for people to whom you make the promise.

Thus, failure to keep such promises risks more than their disappointment. It risks inflicting pain on them emotionally. As a rule of thumb, the more emotionally hurtful a disappointment, the most lasting the damage that it does to trust.

If you’ve recently stepped into a new role, what has helped you build trust with your team? Let’s share ideas.

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Upsize Your Leadership

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