Last week, I was with a client - 1,700 employees, phenomenal culture - to launch a leadership program that identifies rising leaders across the organization, gets them in a room together, and builds next-gen relationships that will carry the company forward.

Last week I had fancy dinner for a great cause and brought my executive network together.   One of them mentioned advice that had shifted his brain years earlier - "You know, you can hire people better than you."

In Team of Teams, General McChrystal challenges leaders to stop micromanaging and start building people they trust to act as they would - aligned in values, able to make the call, and trusted to lead when you’re not in the room.

A great leader proactively builds their team's cohesiveness. They critically evaluate current team interactions and anticipate how the team will evolve in the next three years if no course corrections are made. They identify the biggest pain point and tackle it head-on, immediately.

Filling critical team spots - especially sales - is top of mind for many of the CEOs I met. (Isn't it always?)  What was new though was the response to the current economic market is pushing business owners to increase liquidity and decrease spending.