Welcome! I'm Daniel Matteo, a political activist & campaigner turned management consultant turned coach. And this is my politicwise newsletter, where I share the key insights to fuel your personal & political journey.
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I built an assessment of leadership traps, of what not to do. It's free for you as subscriber:
Daniel Matteo
Why leadership traps?
Often, the best guide for action is: what not to do.
I have to admit... I have a bias to the opposite. I ask more: what can I do, what should I do?
When I ask that question, the list of potential things 'to do' often gets long, very long. And if I'm aware of it, I can cut it down to the essential (which does not always happen).
It's paradoxical that I see this also happen on challenges such as 'managing stress', 'managing time', 'focusing on what matters'. We can easily come up with a lot of things that could work with that.
The alternative: ask yourself 'what not to do'.
I wrote here about why it matters to know what not to do.
What not to do as a leader?
What not to do is also a helpful perspective when it comes to leadership advice.
Think of a terrible boss that you've had. What did they do that you know a leader should not do, something you do not want to do.
For me, it comes down to a few core things. A few traps to avoid as a leader:
- Advice Trap: giving advice too frequently and disempowering others.
- Distrust Trap: taking trust for granted or not thinking about it at all.
- One-Dimensional Trap: being fixed in one's belief about 'this is who I am' and 'this is how I lead' or 'this is what it takes to be a leader around here'
- Either/Or Trap: rushing to either/or decisions that do not do justice to underlying paradoxes in many leadership decisions.
Are you falling for these traps?
Take the quiz to find out 👇
Daniel Matteo🎙️ My latest podcast
I say more about the traps in my newest episode:
Daniel Matteo
📚 What I read & listen to
A Tim Ferriss podcast with the "CEO Coach" Matt Mochary. Before you skip it: not just insightful for coaches! Check out the topics of the episode:
Tim Ferriss
Plus, I nearly fell of my metaphorical chair when I saw that Matt Mochary has open-sourced his CEO Playbook as a Google Doc. It's widely used by Silicon Valley firms and startups. Much of it is relevant to anyone leading a team or building an organisation.
For more context: https://mocharymethod.com
The full playbook/curriculum:
🖋️ My favourite quote
"An improviser is prepared, just not wedded to any ideology or rigid plans." - Daryl Chow on p. 44 in The First Kiss