I run a 650-person contract security company and lead its commercial and government sales — so I sign the contracts I then have to staff.https://mitchgyger.com/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/values-can-they-be-weaponized/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/values-can-they-be-weaponized/The stage nobody warns you about: when people twist shared values to justify the comfortable decision. What I got wrong trying to argue them out of it.Thu, 08 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/overcoming-challenges-between-values/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/overcoming-challenges-between-values/Shared values don't make the right decision obvious to everyone. Stop pretending they do — and face the disagreement openly instead.Mon, 01 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/the-tension-between-values/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/the-tension-between-values/Values are not a roadmap, they're guideposts — and the space between them is vast. On the conflict that arises inside your values, not outside them.Tue, 04 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/temptations-on-the-road-to-winning/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/temptations-on-the-road-to-winning/Catharsis, pride, and ego each derail a conversation differently. Naming the feeling and pausing fifteen seconds is usually the whole technique.Wed, 01 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/financial-stewardship/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/financial-stewardship/Asking people to be frugal failed. Reframing it as "what could we do without, that would matter to our mission and our people" turned 500 small decisions a month into a lever.Tue, 07 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/perfect-vs-good-enough-opportunity-cost/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/perfect-vs-good-enough-opportunity-cost/Good enough is not mediocre. It's good work that accounts for everything else you gave up to get there — and for leaving at a decent hour.Wed, 04 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/perfect-vs-good-enough-diminishing-returns/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/perfect-vs-good-enough-diminishing-returns/Is the extra 2.5 hours worth two percentage points? Applying diminishing returns not to production, but to how leaders spend their time.Tue, 29 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/perfect-vs-good-enough/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/perfect-vs-good-enough/Perfectionism served me well until it didn't. On why the drive for perfect is installed early, and why getting off that ride is harder than getting on.Tue, 01 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/achievement-and-fulfillment/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/achievement-and-fulfillment/There is no summit to the mountain of achievement. Why the leaders who chase fulfillment first tend to find both.Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/values-in-action/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/values-in-action/How valuing both honesty and stewardship led me to open my company's books to everyone — and why the question you ask determines the answer you get.Wed, 31 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/focusing-on-your-most-important-work/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/focusing-on-your-most-important-work/Two columns on a sheet of paper: the work only you should do, and everything else. Then the hardest part — defining what failure you'll accept.Wed, 03 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/taking-control-of-your-time/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/taking-control-of-your-time/If you don't kill the meeting, the meeting will kill your time. What happened when I asked my team which meetings I needed to see my way out of.Wed, 13 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/leading-through-empowerment-the-how-behind-the-what/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/leading-through-empowerment-the-how-behind-the-what/The Why supplies motivation; the How supplies a roadmap. Starting with the foundation everything else depends on — your direct reports.Tue, 10 May 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/leading-with-empowerment/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/leading-with-empowerment/A coach knows the game but is never in it. Four steps for handing off work — the last of which is to get out of the way.Fri, 08 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/shifting-your-mindset-to-be-an-effective-leader/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/shifting-your-mindset-to-be-an-effective-leader/The paradigm shift from top contributor to leader: you are no longer rewarded for the things that got you here, and the habits that made you successful now work against you.Tue, 01 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/creating-a-brand-built-on-virtues-part-2/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/creating-a-brand-built-on-virtues-part-2/One measure of a leader is not the voice they give their expectations, but what they silently choose to tolerate. On the cost of waiting too long.Wed, 02 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/creating-a-brand-built-on-virtues/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/creating-a-brand-built-on-virtues/A mission-driven company cannot survive without profit, and means nothing without mission. The prerequisite for holding that line is personal values.Tue, 21 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/curiosity-and-problem-solving/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/curiosity-and-problem-solving/Curiosity takes humility. Getting out of my own way meant admitting my fast solutions were band-aids on symptoms, not fixes for root problems.Tue, 14 Sep 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/leadership-journey-whats-your-badge-of-honor/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/leadership-journey-whats-your-badge-of-honor/Most leaders measure their worth in hours worked. The better question is which work only you should be doing — and what you are afraid to let go of.Thu, 17 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/giving-feedback-while-keeping-winning-in-mind/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/giving-feedback-while-keeping-winning-in-mind/Feedback is not about you. The three-minute exercise I use to separate a person from their performance before a hard conversation starts.Wed, 14 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/awareness-and-winning/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/awareness-and-winning/The best wins solve future problems before they happen. A real client conflict, and how conceding a minor point produced a written agreement that ended the pattern.Tue, 23 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/what-does-winning-look-like/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/what-does-winning-look-like/Being right and winning are usually different outcomes. On why building the airtight case against someone almost never gets you what you actually wanted.Wed, 03 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/leading-from-the-front/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/leading-from-the-front/Set sail with a crew, give them daily tasks, and never tell them where you're going. Why sharing the strategic vision takes vulnerability most leaders avoid.Thu, 03 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://mitchgyger.com/writing/process-not-your-process/https://mitchgyger.com/writing/process-not-your-process/The process-building skill that got you here is now the thing to stop doing. If a process touches one department, that's your cue to get out of the way.Fri, 25 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT