Recognize that there are many ways to skin a cat.

Think like an owner, and expect the people you work with to do the same.

Going on vacation doesn’t mean one can neglect one’s responsibilities.

Force yourself and the people who work for you to do difficult things.

Recognize and deal with key-man risk.

Don’t treat everyone the same—treat them appropriately.

Don’t let yourself get squeezed.

Care about the people who work for you.

Know that great leadership is generally not what it’s made out to be.

Be weak and strong at the same time.

Don’t worry about whether or not your people like you and don’t look to them to tell you what you should do.

Don’t give orders and try to be followed; try to be understood and to understand others by getting in sync.

Hold yourself and your people accountable and appreciate them for holding you accountable.

If you’ve agreed with someone that something is supposed to go a certain way, make sure it goes that way—unless you get in sync about doing it differently.

Distinguish between a failure in which someone broke their “contract” and a failure in which there was no contract to begin with.

Avoid getting sucked down.

Watch out for people who confuse goals and tasks, because if they can’t make that distinction, you can’t trust them with responsibilities.

Watch out for the unfocused and unproductive “theoretical should.”

Communicate the plan clearly and have clear metrics conveying whether you are progressing according to it.

Put things in perspective by going back before going forward.

Escalate when you can’t adequately handle your responsibilities and make sure that the people who work for you are proactive about doing the same.

Perceive and Don’t Tolerate Problems

If you’re not worried, you need to worry—and if you’re worried, you don’t need to worry.

Design and oversee a machine to perceive whether things are good enough or not good enough, or do it yourself.
