Leadership Traps & Fixes #4: 
The Rare Leaders Who Flip the Script and What You Can Learn from Them

Most leaders play defense:
– Protect the title.
– Hire safe people.
– Push blame down.
– Pull credit up.

But a rare few flip the script.

• They do the opposite of what ego demands.
• They hire smarter people.
• They welcome brutal feedback.
• They absorb blame.
• They give away credit.

And what happens?
Their teams stop working for them.
Their teams start fighting with them.

I have seen the pattern:
– Innovation explodes.
– Loyalty becomes unshakable.
– Speed goes from rare to routine.

Here’s the paradox:
Leaders don’t lose power when they give it away.
They multiply it.

Because power built on fear is fragile.
But power built on trust? Untouchable.

The takeaway:
Stop guarding the throne.
Start building the circle.
Hire bold.
Listen harder.
Take more heat.
Give more credit.
That’s the script worth flipping.

Up next in this 5-part series on Leadership Traps & Fixes:
Post 5: The long-term playbook for entrepreneurs setting the right circle from Day 1.

In this series:
Leadership Traps & Fixes #1: The Higher You Rise, The Harder It Gets to Handle Criticism
Leadership Traps & Fixes #2: Leaders Who Fear Hiring Smarter People and the Fix That Builds Real Power
Leadership Traps & Fixes #3: How Blame Culture Kills Trust and the Reset That Makes Teams Unstoppable
Leadership Traps & Fixes #5: The long-term playbook for entrepreneurs setting the right circle from Day 1