More than 30 years ago, after speaking at an industry event in Newport, R.I., a magazine editor introduced himself to me and asked if I would consider writing a leadership column for his publication. The idea was intimidating, and I hesitated, but eventually I agreed to submit an article for review. As they say, the rest is history. Over the past three decades, I’ve written hundreds of articles for all kinds of publications and have authored nine books.
As I enter my final weeks as CEO of Correct Craft — after several years of planning and preparation — I find myself reflecting on this writing journey. While I hope to continue encouraging leaders (and anyone willing to read what I write) in the years ahead, this feels like a natural moment to step back and evaluate what of real value I’ve been trying to say.
Let’s begin with two mindsets that form the foundation of my leadership philosophy.
1. Chase Impact Most people move through their careers chasing rewards; the best leaders chase impact. They focus on making their organizations stronger, their teams better and their communities healthier. They measure success not just by what they accumulate, but by what they improve. The counterintuitive part? They still receive the rewards. In fact, organizations and the marketplace tend to reward those who authentically use their platforms to make a meaningful difference.
2. Be a Learner Being a learner isn’t about consuming more information; it’s about how you process the information you receive. Most people are knowers. Knowers filter new ideas through a desire to confirm what they already believe. Being a knower is exhausting; it requires always being right, always defending, always protecting your position. A learner processes information with a desire to grow, even if that growth requires thinking differently. Learners are energized by new perspectives, not threatened by them. In fact, a true learner can feel a rush of excitement when their mind is changed, because it means they’re getting better.
These two mindsets form a critical foundation, but there is more that I have been trying to say.
3. Without Good Products, Nothing Else Matters It’s not unusual for someone to share their business challenges with me and ask for advice. Others might describe a new venture they’re hoping to launch and want to know where to begin. They often expect me to talk about culture, hiring, strategy or marketing. While those things matter, they’re not the best starting point. If you don’t have a product or service that people are genuinely excited to spend their money on, excellence in other areas won’t save you. It makes little difference how strong your culture is or how clever your marketing may be if your core offering doesn’t inspire demand. Too many leaders spend enormous amounts of energy diagnosing peripheral problems when the real issue is simpler, and harder: They’re offering something the market just isn’t excited about.
4. Who, Not How I don’t consider myself particularly exceptional at any one thing, which is why I deeply appreciate the value of being surrounded by great people. Yet many leaders overlook this at moments when it matters most. When a challenge arises, their first instinct is to ask, How do I fix this? A better question to ask is often, Who is the right person to fix this? Leadership is less about having all the answers and more about assembling the right team. When leaders provide clarity around mission, vision, values and plans, then put the right people in the right roles, the potential of what they can accomplish becomes virtually unlimited.
5. Results > Activity Many people tie their identity and sense of worth to how busy they are, or how busy others perceive them to be. That’s a big mistake. Parkinson’s Law teaches us that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. The result? It’s entirely possible to feel constantly busy yet accomplish very little of real value. That’s a destructive trap. A leader’s value is measured by results, not by activity. Busyness can create an illusion of importance, but only meaningful outcomes create lasting impact.
6. Creativity > Capital Many business leaders fall into the trap of asking, How much will it cost to fix this? That’s often the wrong starting point. A better approach is to assume there is no capital available at all. This constraint forces creativity and smarter problem-solving and preserves capital for higher-impact opportunities or to protect against future economic uncertainty. Prioritizing creativity over capital is a sound discipline, even when capital is abundant.
7. Think Big Many leaders constrain themselves and their organizations by defaulting to incremental thinking when transformative thinking would deliver far better results. Counterintuitively, 10× thinking is often easier than 2× thinking. A 2× goal leads teams to work harder within existing constraints, while a 10× goal makes it clear that entirely new ideas, approaches or even business models are required. Big thinking forces transformation, and transformation drives big results.
8. Be Positive Decades of research underscore the power of optimism. Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania has rigorously documented the benefits of a positive mindset in his book Learned Optimism. Optimism provides hope and energy to teams, while negativity drains them.
9. Power of Culture An authentic and positive culture will significantly drive positive results at any organization. People want to be part of something big and impactful, and a culture that creates that environment provides tremendous energy to a team, which drives results. We have seen this firsthand, as culture has been a significant reason for Correct Craft’s explosive growth over the past two decades.
It’s difficult to distill hundreds of articles and several books in one column, but this is my best shot. For three decades, I have written in an effort to be helpful. Thanks for reading.
Bill Yeargin is CEO of Correct Craft and the author of nine books, including the best-seller, Education of a CEO.
