Terry DavidLeadership that sticks is less about grand pronouncements and more about repeatable habits that create clarity, trust, and momentum. Whether leading a small team or a complex organization, the leaders who get results focus on three interlocking priorities: people, purpose, and process.
Start with people: psychological safety and coaching
High-performing teams operate where people feel safe to speak up, admit mistakes, and share ideas. Creating psychological safety requires consistent behavior: ask open questions, acknowledge uncertainty, and respond to feedback without defensiveness. Pair public encouragement with private coaching—regular one-on-ones that focus on growth, not just task updates—so individuals know you’re invested in their development.
Practical habits:
– Schedule recurring 1:1s with a clear agenda that includes career goals.
– Practice active listening: reflect, summarize, and ask for clarification.
– Call out wins and correct behavior privately to build trust.
Clarify purpose: outcomes over activity
Teams thrive when they understand the “why” behind their work.
Translate strategy into measurable outcomes and make success visible. Shift conversations from “tasks completed” to impact delivered—this helps prioritize and reduces busywork.
How to do it:
– Use outcome-based goals (OKRs or similar) tied to customer or organizational impact.
– Communicate priorities frequently and reduce the number of simultaneous initiatives.
– Celebrate impact, not just effort.
Design processes that scale: cadence and decision rights
Processes are the scaffolding that keep momentum steady. Establish predictable cadences—standups, planning, reviews—and define clear decision rights to avoid bottlenecks. In hybrid and distributed environments, asynchronous communication is essential; document decisions and make them accessible.
Checklist for scalable processes:
– Define who decides what and document it.
– Create meeting rules (purpose, time limit, pre-read expectations).
– Use shared repositories for decisions and meeting notes.
Lead with empathy and accountability
Empathy doesn’t mean avoiding hard conversations. Leaders model expectations by being transparent about constraints and holding people accountable to outcomes. Combining compassion with clarity makes difficult feedback more actionable and fair.
Tips for balanced leadership:
– Frame feedback around observed behavior and impact, not assumptions.
– Co-create improvement plans with timelines and checkpoints.
– Protect boundaries to model sustainable work habits.
Embrace learning and resilience
Intentional learning turns setbacks into advantage.
Normalize small experiments, fail-fast iterations, and post-mortems that focus on learning, not blame. Encourage cross-functional exposure to widen perspectives and reduce single-person dependencies.
Quick learning playbook:
– Run short experiments with clear hypotheses and success criteria.
– Share learnings through short, searchable write-ups or demos.
– Rotate responsibilities to build redundancy and broaden skills.
Inclusive leadership multiplies talent
Deliberate inclusion increases creativity and retention. Make room for diverse voices by varying meeting formats (round-robin, anonymous input, written feedback) and actively recruiting different perspectives when solving problems.
Finally, lead by example.
Consistent actions—showing up, admitting mistakes, keeping commitments—are the simplest, most powerful leadership signals. Over time, those actions shape norms, attract the right people, and produce predictable results.