leadership

3. Maintain a standard

Jalen yelled at me a few times for not getting my eyes on coach Jay Wright. We used to have this thing at Villanova: When the coach was talking, we would yell “eyes” so everybody would quiet down and look at him.

I was a freshman, so I didn’t really understand how important it was. Jalen really got on me one time. “Eyes, eyes,... See more

If you’re trying to lead real change, the most important question is not “How do we drive adoption?” It is “How will this system try to stay itself?” Where will it perform agreement while preserving the old rules? Where will it translate the change into something harmless? What will it protect, and who will it protect?

Progress is not when people... See more

Real influence is closer to craft than performance. It’s about understanding the system you’re working in—its incentives, fears, histories, and fault lines—and moving through it with eyes open. It’s knowing when to push, when to wait, and when to shut up. Done right, influence is how you avoid brute force. It’s how you make change stick without... See more

Once something is obvious and working, people tend to underestimate it.

It can be hard to encourage people to speak candidly in front of the CEO, but Duckett says she has a go-to question she “always” asks employees to get them talking.

“What would be the one thing that you’d change if you were [in my shoes], like, ‘Finally I get to be the CEO and I can get something done’?”

By asking that one question, you “immediately... See more