Business Acumen vs Leadership: Which One Drives Performance?

During my tenure as CEO at CS Energy, we took EBITDA from $17m to $441m: we more than doubled the company’s earnings for four consecutive years.Along the way, I had to dig deep into two distinct toolkits: my business acumen, and my leadership capability. When it comes to career advancement, there’s no substitute for building a strong track record of achievement. Performance is the undeniable resume builder. So, in the search for elite performance, what role does each capability play?In this episode, I compare my Magnificent 7 areas of business acumen with the seven pillars of high-performance leadership from my WSJ bestselling book, No Bullsh!t Leadership, and I tell you how important I think each one is.⭐️⭐️⭐️LEADERSHIP BEYOND THE THEORYIf this episode landed, you already know where the 60% sits. Leadership Beyond the Theory is where we build it: 9 weeks, the 7 pillars, applied to your team and your situation rather than the textbook version. Have a look here:https://go.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/And if you listen right to the end of the episode, there's a sneaky coupon code in there for the hardcore listeners! ⭐️⭐️⭐️Links mentioned in this episode:No Bullsh!t Leadership episodes:Ep.335: Is the MBA Dead?Ep.336: Maximising Your Career Development ROIAmazon link:No Bullsh!t LeadershipLBT link:Leadership Beyond the TheoryYou're still doing the work your team should own. And you can't see a way to stop.Leadership Beyond the Theory is 9 weeks of practical reps that get you out of the weeds and hand delivery back to your team.Taught by Martin Moore, who ran a multi-billion dollar company before he taught any of this. 3,000+ leaders from 150+ organisations. 99% would recommend.Join the October cohort: https://go.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some leaders remain uncorrupted, despite the fact that they move into increasingly powerful positions.But there are others who, at every turn, leverage whatever power they have to further their own self-interest.A leader who abuses their power wasn’t corrupted by it: they’re just using the power they have, in a way that’s entirely consistent with the person they’ve always been.If you want to take a deeper dive into the dynamics of leadership power, have a listen to Ep.5: Using Power Wisely.————————You can connect with me at:Website: https://www.yourceomentor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourceomentorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentorLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentor————————Our mission here at Your CEO Mentor is to improve the quality of leaders, globally. You're still doing the work your team should own. And you can't see a way to stop.Leadership Beyond the Theory is 9 weeks of practical reps that get you out of the weeds and hand delivery back to your team.Taught by Martin Moore, who ran a multi-billion dollar company before he taught any of this. 3,000+ leaders from 150+ organisations. 99% would recommend.Join the October cohort: https://go.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Your ability to give quality feedback is one of the biggest predictors of leadership success. But many leaders never master the art of difficult conversations. Like many things in leadership, business, and life, nothing beats taking consistent, focused action. In this Moment, I give you 6 tips to get you off the starting line, and build your confidence quickly. If you want to take a deeper dive into the art of giving feedback, have a listen to Ep.22: Feedback Made Easy.————————The 7 Leadership Blind Spots, one a day:1. Drive Accountability. Do people deliver for you, or do they make excuses? (Ep.418)2. Handle Conflict. Can you have the tough conversations that weak leaders avoid? (Ep.419)3. Work at Level. Are you leading at the right altitude, or stuck in the weeds? (Ep.420)4. Deliver Value. Are you focused on outcomes that matter, or just ticking boxes? (Ep.421)5. Make Great Decisions. Are you decisive when it counts, or do you overthink it?  (Ep.422)6. Master Ambiguity. Can you make decisions when you don't have all the answers?  (Ep.423)7. Build Resilience. Do you stay calm when everything's falling apart? (Ep.424)————————The tool that writes your business case for your boss:https://lbtpitchbuilder.netlify.app/————————Leadership Beyond the Theory link:https://www.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/————————You can connect with me at:Website: https://www.yourceomentor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourceomentorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentorLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentorYou're still doing the work your team should own. And you can't see a way to stop.Leadership Beyond the Theory is 9 weeks of practical reps that get you out of the weeds and hand delivery back to your team.Taught by Martin Moore, who ran a multi-billion dollar company before he taught any of this. 3,000+ leaders from 150+ organisations. 99% would recommend.Join the October cohort: https://go.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You may think that you’re highly resilient, an expert at staying calm under pressure… but your team could be experiencing something completely different. They're the ones who see your lack of composure.If you panic, that leaks onto your team. And every minute they spend managing your mood is a minute they don't spend delivering results. This is the final instalment in our 7-part series, recut from a live workshop I ran called Stop Rescuing Your Underperformers. I've been looking at one leadership blind spot each day.There's a person on your team who isn't delivering, and the premise I'm exploring this week is that they're more likely to be a symptom of the problem, rather than the root cause of it.Underperformers are made. They're made by the things their leaders do, but can't see the impact of.Today is number seven: Resilience. Are you a Landmine Leader? A Teflon Leader? A Catatonic Leader? Your people know which one you are, and no amount of “game face” can cover it up.So before you decide your team is withholding bad news from you, look at yourself first: are you creating an environment where they can bring you anything? Or do they have to worry about reading your mood first?If you want to fix your blindspots, doors for the next global cohort of Leadership Beyond the Theory close on 25th September. Invest 9-weeks to set yourself up for a lifetime of exceptional leadership performance.————————GET YOUR SCORE ON ALL SEVEN LEADERSHIP BLINDSPOTS, HERE:https://score.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/workshop————————The 7 Leadership Blind Spots, one a day:1. Drive Accountability. Do people deliver for you, or do they make excuses? (Ep.418)2. Handle Conflict. Can you have the tough conversations that weak leaders avoid? (Ep.419)3. Work at Level. Are you leading at the right altitude, or stuck in the weeds? (Ep.420)4. Deliver Value. Are you focused on outcomes that matter, or just ticking boxes? (Ep.421)5. Make Great Decisions. Are you decisive when it counts, or do you overthink it?  (Ep.422)6. Master Ambiguity. Can you make decisions when you don't have all the answers?  (Ep.423)7. Build Resilience. Do you stay calm when everything's falling apart? (Ep.424)————————The tool that writes your business case for your boss:https://lbtpitchbuilder.netlify.app/————————Leadership Beyond the Theory link:https://www.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/————————You can connect with me at:Website: https://www.yourceomentor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourceomentorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentorLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentorYou're still doing the work your team should own. And you can't see a way to stop.Leadership Beyond the Theory is 9 weeks of practical reps that get you out of the weeds and hand delivery back to your team.Taught by Martin Moore, who ran a multi-billion dollar company before he taught any of this. 3,000+ leaders from 150+ organisations. 99% would recommend.Join the October cohort: https://go.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you hesitate on an important decision, it’s rarely due to missing data or insufficient consultation. It's more likely because you're afraid of getting it wrong.And as long as you delay, your people have to wait. There may be a whole string of decisions below you that can’t be made until you make yours… and if your people have to wait too long, they may just stop chasing you.This is Day 6 of a 7-part series, recut from a live workshop I ran called Stop Rescuing Your Underperformers. I'm looking at one leadership blind spot each day.There's a person on your team who isn't delivering, and the premise I'm exploring this week is that they're more likely to be a symptom of the problem, rather than the root cause of it.Underperformers are made. They're made by the things their leaders do, but can't see the impact of.Today is number six: Make Great Decisions. For every decision sitting on your desk, there are likely 10 below you that can't be made until you make yours. Your delay becomes a roadblock to progress for your team.So before you decide your team is too slow, look at yourself first: are you decisive when it counts, or are you the reason everything below you grinds to a halt?————————GET YOUR SCORE ON ALL SEVEN LEADERSHIP BLINDSPOTS, HERE:https://score.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/workshop————————The 7 Leadership Blind Spots, one a day:1. Drive Accountability. Do people deliver for you, or do they make excuses? (Ep.418)2. Handle Conflict. Can you have the tough conversations that weak leaders avoid? (Ep.419)3. Work at Level. Are you leading at the right altitude, or stuck in the weeds? (Ep.420)4. Deliver Value. Are you focused on outcomes that matter, or just ticking boxes? (Ep.421)5. Make Great Decisions. Are you decisive when it counts, or do you overthink it?  (Ep.422)6. Master Ambiguity. Can you make decisions when you don't have all the answers?  (Ep.423)7. Build Resilience. Do you stay calm when everything's falling apart? (Ep.424)Tomorrow, blind spot seven, and it's the last one. Nobody thinks it applies to them. Build resilience.————————The tool that writes your business case for your boss:https://lbtpitchbuilder.netlify.app/————————Leadership Beyond the Theory link:https://www.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/————————You can connect with me at:Website: https://www.yourceomentor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourceomentorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentorLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentorYou're still doing the work your team should own. And you can't see a way to stop.Leadership Beyond the Theory is 9 weeks of practical reps that get you out of the weeds and hand delivery back to your team.Taught by Martin Moore, who ran a multi-billion dollar company before he taught any of this. 3,000+ leaders from 150+ organisations. 99% would recommend.Join the October cohort: https://go.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of your critical jobs as a leader is to absorb the ambiguity that you’re facing, and turn that into certainty for your people.If you can’t do that, your team will freeze; and a frozen team just looks like an underperforming team.This is Day 5 of a 7-part series, recut from a live workshop I ran called Stop Rescuing Your Underperformers. I'm looking at one leadership blind spot each day.There's a person on your team who isn't delivering, and the premise I'm exploring this week is that they're more likely to be a symptom of the problem, rather than the root cause of it.Underperformers are made. They're made by the things their leaders do, but can't see the impact of.Today is number five, Master Ambiguity. At the top of any organisation, complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity are high. But down on the front line, people need to know specifically what they need to do to be successful. They need to know what good looks like, in very concrete terms. Whatever uncertainty you're feeling is magnified at every layer below you. So before you label anyone as an underperformer, ask yourself one question: what have you actually done to give them clarity of objectives?————————GET YOUR SCORE ON ALL SEVEN LEADERSHIP BLINDSPOTS, HERE:https://score.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/workshop————————The 7 Leadership Blind Spots, one a day:1. Drive Accountability. Do people deliver for you, or do they make excuses? (Ep.418)2. Handle Conflict. Can you have the tough conversations that weak leaders avoid? (Ep.419)3. Work at Level. Are you leading at the right altitude, or stuck in the weeds? (Ep.420)4. Deliver Value. Are you focused on outcomes that matter, or just ticking boxes? (Ep.421)5. Make Great Decisions. Are you decisive when it counts, or do you overthink it?  (Ep.422)6. Master Ambiguity. Can you make decisions when you don't have all the answers?  (Ep.423)7. Build Resilience. Do you stay calm when everything's falling apart? (Ep.424)Tomorrow, blind spot three, and it's my own. Working at the right level.————————Leadership Beyond the Theory link:https://www.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/————————You can connect with me at:Website: https://www.yourceomentor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourceomentorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentorLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentorYou're still doing the work your team should own. And you can't see a way to stop.Leadership Beyond the Theory is 9 weeks of practical reps that get you out of the weeds and hand delivery back to your team.Taught by Martin Moore, who ran a multi-billion dollar company before he taught any of this. 3,000+ leaders from 150+ organisations. 99% would recommend.Join the October cohort: https://go.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you reward long hours, instead of rewarding the results that make a difference, you're paying for effort instead of value.You can't hold someone accountable for delivery, when you've never told them what's worth delivering.This is Day 4 of a 7-part series, recut from a live workshop I ran called Stop Rescuing Your Underperformers. I'm looking at one leadership blindspot each day.There's a person on your team who isn't delivering, and the premise I'm exploring this week is that they're more likely to be a symptom of the problem, rather than the root cause of it.Underperformers are made. They're made by the things their leaders do, but can't necessarily see the impact of.Today is number four, deliver value. Peter Drucker said, “The greatest waste of organisational resources is doing efficiently the things you shouldn't be doing at all”; but many leaders still think that being busy somehow automatically translates into value. It doesn’t.Your underperformer may not be slow after all; they may just be working hard on the wrong things. So before you decide on how to handle them, have you actually been clear?————————GET YOUR SCORE ON ALL SEVEN LEADERSHIP BLINDSPOTS, HERE:https://score.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/workshop————————The 7 Leadership Blind Spots, one a day:1. Drive Accountability. Do people deliver for you, or do they make excuses? (Ep.418)2. Handle Conflict. Can you have the tough conversations that weak leaders avoid? (Ep.419)3. Work at Level. Are you leading at the right altitude, or stuck in the weeds? (Ep.420)4. Deliver Value. Are you focused on outcomes that matter, or just ticking boxes? (Ep.421)Tomorrow, blind spot 5: master ambiguity. ————————Leadership Beyond the Theory link:https://www.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/————————You can connect with me at:Website: https://www.yourceomentor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourceomentorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentorLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentorYou're still doing the work your team should own. And you can't see a way to stop.Leadership Beyond the Theory is 9 weeks of practical reps that get you out of the weeds and hand delivery back to your team.Taught by Martin Moore, who ran a multi-billion dollar company before he taught any of this. 3,000+ leaders from 150+ organisations. 99% would recommend.Join the October cohort: https://go.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you rewrite one of your people's reports at 9pm, you're not just compensating for their weakness. You're reinforcing it.That report was their chance to learn how to do it properly. You took it on because you wanted it done right.This is Day 3 of a 7-part series, recut from a live workshop I ran called Stop Rescuing Your Underperformers. I'm looking at one leadership blind spot each day.There's a person on your team who isn't delivering, and the premise I'm exploring this week is that they're more likely to be a symptom of the problem, rather than the root cause of it.Underperformers are made. They're made by the things their leaders do, but can't see the impact of.Today is number three, working at level, and it was my own. Before the workshop we asked people what they were struggling with, and being stuck in the weeds dominated… by a country mile. It didn't matter how senior they were.Doing it yourself is almost certainly faster the first time. But you're not doing it once, are you?————————GET YOUR SCORE ON ALL SEVEN LEADERSHIP BLINDSPOTS, HERE:https://score.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/workshop————————The 7 Leadership Blind Spots, one a day:1. Drive Accountability. Do people deliver for you, or do they make excuses? (Ep.418)2. Handle Conflict. Can you have the tough conversations that weak leaders avoid? (Ep.419)3. Work at Level. Are you leading at the right altitude, or stuck in the weeds? (Ep.420)Tomorrow, blind spot three, delivering value. ————————Leadership Beyond the Theory link:https://www.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/————————You can connect with me at:Website: https://www.yourceomentor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourceomentorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentorLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentorYou're still doing the work your team should own. And you can't see a way to stop.Leadership Beyond the Theory is 9 weeks of practical reps that get you out of the weeds and hand delivery back to your team.Taught by Martin Moore, who ran a multi-billion dollar company before he taught any of this. 3,000+ leaders from 150+ organisations. 99% would recommend.Join the October cohort: https://go.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you have an underperformer on your team, but you haven’t given them specific performance feedback, you're reinforcing their underperformance. They may think that no news is good news, and they don’t need to do anything different.This is Day 2 of a 7-part series, recut from a live workshop I ran called Stop Rescuing Your Underperformers. I’m looking at one leadership blind spot each day.There's a person on your team who isn't delivering, and the premise I’m exploring this week is that they're more likely to be a symptom of the problem, rather than the root cause of it.Underperformers are made. They’re made by the things their leaders do, but can’t see the impact of.Yesterday was about accountability. Today is the one that stops you fixing accountability: can you handle conflict, or is this your blind spot?This one’s tricky, because it hides behind noble virtues. You tell yourself you're being kind. But in reality, you're not being kind; it’s more likely that you're protecting yourself from the discomfort of a difficult conversation.————————GET YOUR SCORE ON ALL SEVEN LEADERSHIP BLINDSPOTS, HERE:https://score.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/workshop————————The 7 Leadership Blind Spots, one a day:1. Drive Accountability. Do people deliver for you, or do they make excuses? (Ep.418)2. Handle Conflict. Can you have the tough conversations that weak leaders avoid? (Ep.419)Tomorrow, blind spot three, and it's my own. Working at the right level.————————Leadership Beyond the Theory link:https://www.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/————————You can connect with me at:Website: https://www.yourceomentor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourceomentorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentorLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentorYou're still doing the work your team should own. And you can't see a way to stop.Leadership Beyond the Theory is 9 weeks of practical reps that get you out of the weeds and hand delivery back to your team.Taught by Martin Moore, who ran a multi-billion dollar company before he taught any of this. 3,000+ leaders from 150+ organisations. 99% would recommend.Join the October cohort: https://go.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Somewhere on your team right now there's a person who isn't delivering. You thought of their name before you got to the end of that sentence.Over the next seven days, I'm going to show you they're probably not your problem. They're a symptom of it.This is Day 1 of a seven part series, recut from a live workshop I ran called Stop Rescuing Your Underperformers. One leadership blind spot a day, for seven days.Today it's number one, and it's the big one. Accountability. I've taught this for almost a decade, and if you did nothing else at all, this is the one that lifts team performance more than any other.Here's the part most leaders miss. Every time you step in and do an underperformer's work, every time you make a decision for them, take a meeting yourself, or fix the thing before it goes upstairs, accountability shifts from them to you. So you probably haven't got a person who won't take accountability. You've got a person who doesn't need to.In this episode I walk you through the rescue cycle, the six signs of an accountability vacuum so you can score yourself out of six, and the night at a social function when I found out two teams inside the same bank were building almost exactly the same thing. The overlap number still makes me wince.I also answer two questions that came in live. Christina asks how you get someone to see their failures when they refuse to. Dylan asks how you motivate people with no ambition, who just show up and do enough to get by.Grab a pen. You'll want to keep score.————————GET YOUR SCORE ON ALL SEVENScoring yourself on one blind spot is useful, but it's a seventh of the picture, and the one costing you the most might not be this one.The free Leadership Blind Spot Scorecard runs you through all seven, the same way we did it live.✨ 10 minutes. Your results on a wheel, ranked from your biggest blind spot down to your smallest. Nobody else sees it.GET YOUR BLIND SPOT SCORECARD HERE:https://score.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/workshop————————The 7 Leadership Blind Spots, one a day:1. Drive Accountability. Do people deliver for you, or do they make excuses?2. Handle Conflict. Can you have the tough conversations that weak leaders avoid?3. Work at Level. Are you leading at the right altitude, or stuck in the weeds?4. Deliver Value. Are you focused on outcomes that matter, or just ticking boxes?5. Make Great Decisions. Are you decisive when it counts, or do you overthink everything?6. Master Ambiguity. Can you make decisions when you don't have all the answers?7. Build Resilience. Do you stay calm when everything's falling apart, or do you crumble?Tomorrow, blind spot number two, and it's the reason this one is so hard to fix. Handling conflict.————————Leadership Beyond the Theory link:https://www.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/————————You can connect with me at:Website: https://www.yourceomentor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourceomentorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourceomentorLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-moore-075b001/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourCEOMentorYou're still doing the work your team should own. And you can't see a way to stop.Leadership Beyond the Theory is 9 weeks of practical reps that get you out of the weeds and hand delivery back to your team.Taught by Martin Moore, who ran a multi-billion dollar company before he taught any of this. 3,000+ leaders from 150+ organisations. 99% would recommend.Join the October cohort: https://go.leadershipbeyondthetheory.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.