Leadership Two Words at a Time

Leadership Two Words at a Time Plot Summary

Introduction

Leadership is one of the most challenging yet rewarding journeys you can embark on in your professional life. As a new leader, you face unique pressures from all sides - demanding bosses, expectant team members, competing peers, and your own internal voice questioning if you're truly ready for this responsibility. The weight of these expectations can feel overwhelming, especially when there's no clear playbook to follow. What if the complexity of leadership could be broken down into manageable, memorable pieces? The truth is that leadership, while challenging, doesn't have to be complicated to understand. The most powerful leadership concepts can often be distilled into simple two-word phrases that capture essential truths. When you approach leadership two words at a time, you create a foundation of practical wisdom that can guide you through even the most difficult situations, helping you develop the confidence and capability to lead effectively and authentically.

Chapter 1: Know Yourself: The Foundation of Leadership

Leadership begins with self-knowledge. Before you can effectively lead others, you must first understand your own inner workings - what motivates you, what triggers you, what strengths you bring to the table, and what shadows those strengths might cast when overused. This journey of self-discovery is perhaps the most courageous act any leader can undertake. Bill Treasurer, drawing from decades of leadership development experience, emphasizes that each person is a pair of opposites. You are likely caring, passionate, and disciplined, but also occasionally judgmental, petty, or selfish. This isn't a character flaw - it's simply being human. Understanding this duality in yourself creates compassion for the same complexity in others. As one leader discovered during a coaching session with Bill, his quick-trigger temper wasn't just damaging his relationships with his team; it was a signal of deeper fears about failing or losing control. When you take inventory of your emotional landscape, you become more aware of how your inner state affects your outer actions. This self-awareness serves as an early warning system, helping you recognize when emotions like anger or frustration might be influencing your leadership decisions. One question Bill recommends asking yourself when emotionally charged is simply: "What fear might be behind this?" This question alone can create space between reaction and response. The process of knowing yourself also involves identifying your core values - the principles you're willing to stand behind. Bill uses Dante's Inferno as a metaphor, describing how those who never took a stand in life were depicted as "shades" doomed to march behind empty banners. As a leader, you need clarity about what you stand for, or you risk becoming one of these uncommitted souls. The "Five Flags" exercise encourages you to identify five core values that represent what you believe in and will fight for. Self-awareness extends to understanding your privileges and advantages too. Whether from your upbringing, education, or other factors, acknowledging these helps you use them to create opportunities for others. As one leader who worked with Bill discovered, speaking openly about her own struggles with addiction created a space where her team could bring their authentic selves to work, ultimately strengthening their collective performance. The ultimate goal of self-knowledge isn't self-criticism but integration - becoming comfortable in your own skin and authentic in your leadership. As country music legend Dolly Parton demonstrated when interviewed by Barbara Walters, knowing yourself creates an unshakable foundation: "I am sure of myself as a person. I am sure of my talent...I am secure with myself." When you know who you are, you lead from a place of genuine strength rather than insecurity or pretense.

Chapter 2: Build Trust Through Consistent Action

Trust forms the cornerstone of effective leadership. Without it, your influence diminishes and your team's performance suffers. Trust isn't granted automatically with your title - it must be earned through consistent actions that demonstrate your reliability, integrity, and genuine care for others. Bill Treasurer shares the story of a bank president who gathered his executive team to discuss changing the company's dress code. When team members initially expressed support for casual Fridays, the president revealed his disappointment and opposition. Almost immediately, every executive reversed their position to align with the leader. This example reveals a common leadership trap - people will outwardly conform to your preferences while inwardly disconnecting from you. True trust requires creating an environment where people feel safe expressing their authentic thoughts. One safety director Bill worked with needed to rebuild his company's safety culture after several jobsite fatalities. During a workshop focused on developing a culture of caring, the director did something remarkable - he showed vulnerability by sharing his personal struggles. He revealed how deeply he felt responsible for workplace injuries, how this led to alcohol abuse, and eventually to seeking recovery through a twelve-step program. By modeling vulnerability, he created space for others to share their own safety lapses and concerns, which became the foundation for a transformed safety culture. The impact of this leader's transparency was profound. Construction workers - not typically known for emotional openness - began sharing stories about their own safety shortcuts and close calls. One person admitted to texting while driving, another to consuming excessive energy drinks to stay awake on the job, and another shared the shame of having his young son climb a ladder he had carelessly left up. This honesty became the starting point for genuine commitment to safety improvements. To build trust in your own leadership, start by demonstrating trustworthiness. Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, explained to Bill that great leaders invest fifteen minutes of quality time every week or two with each direct report - not talking about assignments or work status, but focusing solely on the person. How are they doing? What's important to them? What support do they need? This small investment pays enormous dividends in trust. Trust also requires courage - the courage to be vulnerable and risk being let down. Bill describes three types of courage in leadership: TRY Courage (attempting new things), TELL Courage (speaking truth), and TRUST Courage (getting disarmed and forming strong relationships). TRUST Courage involves genuinely caring about others' concerns, accepting help when offered, being open to feedback, and delegating substantial tasks without micromanaging. Remember that trust is reciprocal - when you demonstrate trust in others, they're more likely to trust you in return. As one leader discovered after failing to learn his employee's children's names despite hearing numerous stories about them, sometimes building trust starts with something as simple as paying attention and truly listening when people share what matters to them. Small acts of genuine interest can build the foundation for lasting trust.

Chapter 3: Create Safety for Team Courage

Fear is toxic in the workplace. It lowers morale, stifles innovation, and drives people to hide mistakes rather than learn from them. As a leader, one of your most critical responsibilities is creating an environment where people feel safe enough to take appropriate risks, speak up with ideas, and admit when things go wrong. Bill Treasurer describes working with two distinctly different bosses early in his career. One would assign tasks with anxiety, emphasizing all the terrible consequences of failure: "This is your problem now. Solve it...or else!" The other would frame similar assignments as opportunities, express confidence in Bill's abilities, and offer support: "I'm confident you'll do a great job, and I'm here to support you in any way you need." The difference in approach dramatically affected his motivation and performance. This illustrates what Bill calls "enfearing" versus "encouraging" people. Fear-transmitting leaders focus on what they don't want ("Don't drop that ball!") which paradoxically gets people thinking about failure. Encouraging leaders focus on what people can do to succeed, making it safer to take necessary risks. The psychological safety you create becomes the foundation for courageous behavior. McKinsey and Company exemplifies this principle through what they call the "obligation to engage and dissent." Every consultant, regardless of rank, is expected to challenge assumptions when they can substantiate their thoughts with clear rationale. The most junior person can openly disagree with the most senior person because what matters is producing robust, well-tested ideas - not affirming authority or protecting egos. Creating safety doesn't mean avoiding accountability. When a construction company identified early warning signs on a project, they launched a "Boost" program rather than a blame session. A small team including the project leader's bosses would quickly mobilize to identify root causes, develop mitigating actions, and schedule follow-ups until issues were resolved. This approach made it safe to ask for help without fear of punishment or embarrassment. Your own composure plays a crucial role in creating safety. When you remain calm during stressful situations, you signal that challenges are manageable. Bill suggests several practices to maintain composure: observe yourself without judgment when triggered, claim the emotion you're experiencing without identifying with it ("I notice I'm feeling frustrated" rather than "I am frustrated"), take a pause before responding, and consider how your leadership can best serve the situation. Communication also profoundly impacts safety. Small word changes can make a big difference - replacing "Why did you do that?" with "Help me understand how you came to choose that option" shifts from accusation to understanding. Similarly, saying "That idea was good" rather than "That idea wasn't bad" creates an atmosphere of appreciation rather than grudging tolerance. The ultimate test of psychological safety comes when you need to confront performance issues. Addressing breaches of conduct respectfully but directly reinforces rather than undermines safety. Your team needs to know you'll uphold standards while treating people with dignity. As Gary Peck, a Chicago-based executive coach, explains: "How you say it matters as much as what you say" - your tone, composure, and level-headedness communicate as much as your words.

Chapter 4: Develop Others Through Deliberate Opportunities

One of the greatest responsibilities and joys of leadership is nurturing the talent of those you lead. Despite the pressures of deadlines and deliverables, developing your people isn't optional - it's essential to both their growth and your success as a leader. During a leadership workshop in Chicago, one seasoned leader expressed his frustration to Bill Treasurer: "I want to be a better leader, I really do. I just don't have the time." He described how increasing demands and compressed timelines had forced him to sacrifice the developmental conversations he once had with his team. This common sentiment reflects the real pressure leaders face, but as Bill emphasizes, "Tough noogies. You don't get a pass from the central leadership requirement for developing your people." Creating development opportunities doesn't always mean formal training programs or promotions. Often the most powerful development happens through everyday work challenges. One effective approach is setting what Bill calls "Gulp Goals" - objectives that simultaneously frighten and excite, causing people to swallow hard and go "Gulp!" These goals stretch people beyond their comfort zones while remaining achievable with support. Delegation serves as a powerful development tool, though many new leaders struggle with it. As one coaching client told Bill after finally learning to delegate, "I wish I had done it sooner. Things didn't fall apart as I was so sure would happen. I guess I wasn't holding the world together the way I assumed I was!" Effective delegation involves identifying tasks you've outgrown, matching them with people whose skills would benefit from the challenge, clarifying expectations, and providing appropriate support without micromanaging. Rehnuma Karim's story exemplifies how creating opportunities develops leaders. Growing up in Bangladesh, she was encouraged by her father to "follow her heart" rather than conform to gender expectations. During her first job at UNICEF Bangladesh, she pitched the idea of holding a Youth Forum that would include children from all income levels in designing the event themselves. Her boss embraced the idea, which became a great success and launched Rehnuma's leadership journey. Years later, she founded Heroes for All, a nonprofit organization helping young people "find the hero within" through leadership seminars, cross-cultural programs, and educational initiatives. Development requires recognition of progress, especially when learning involves discomfort and occasional setbacks. When people extend themselves and try new things, acknowledge their courage and effort. As Tom Tucker, a Vice President at Aldridge Electric, explains: "Staying true to caring about the work and the project teams has always kept me on the path to push through, keep my cool, and get to the finish line." Your encouragement becomes especially important when the learning process gets challenging. Regular feedback is essential to development. Too many organizations still rely on annual performance reviews where feedback gets "backed up like a septic tank ready to explode all over the employee." Instead, provide feedback frequently as part of the development process. Before offering your input, first ask the person how they thought they did - they usually know when they've done well and when they haven't. Then add your perspective, always aiming to be helpful and inspire improvement. After thirty years of leadership development work, Bill has witnessed countless individuals grow from hesitant new managers to confident executives. "Development works," he concludes. The transformation happens through countless one-on-one conversations, stretch assignments, feedback sessions, and opportunities to apply new skills. Leaders creating leaders is what leadership is all about.

Chapter 5: Embrace Humility and Check Your Ego

Leadership comes with power and privilege that can be massively seductive. When people start treating you as special because of your leadership role, it's dangerously easy to begin believing you are more important than others. This chapter focuses on the critical practice of keeping your ego in check through deliberate humility. Bill Treasurer shares that as long as there have been leaders, there have been people kissing their rear-ends. It feels good when people enthusiastically agree with your decisions and affirm your opinions. Some leaders surround themselves with "yes-people," mistaking sycophantic fealty for genuine loyalty. However, you'll be far better off with confident people who offset your deficiencies and have the courage to tell you when you're about to make a boneheaded decision. The dangers of ego inflation are illustrated through a cautionary tale Bill shares about a regional office president who was initially admired as a go-getter and person of integrity. With each promotion, his ego swelled. Eventually, he began having an affair with a young new hire and secretly incorporated his own business to compete against the company he worked for. His sense of invincibility led to his downfall - he was fired when his duplicity was discovered, and his marriage soon ended as well. In The Leadership Killer, co-authored with retired Navy SEAL officer John "Coach" Havlik, Bill identifies hubris as the single deadliest leadership contaminant. Hubris destroys the mission, morale, performance, loyalty, ethics, reputation, and legacy of leaders who succumb to it. As one leader Bill worked with, Kaitlin Giles of Southern Nuclear Company, explains: "I have worked hard to become the 'expert' in my area and am confident in my knowledge; however, from a leadership perspective, I am not doing anyone any favors by disallowing others to be the experts, too." To guard against ego inflation, Bill offers ten early warning signs to watch for, including having a short fuse when you don't get your way, feeling envious when others are recognized, being easily offended, using "I" more than "we" in meetings, and rarely asking for feedback. These indicators suggest your ego may be beginning to corrupt your leadership effectiveness. Practicing humility requires ongoing vigilance and discipline. Bill recommends eight specific practices, including a daily reflection check (can you look at your own eyes in the mirror without embarrassment?), deputizing truth-tellers who have permission to question you, spending more time with your team than with your bosses, and actively seeking feedback about your leadership. He also suggests the simple practice of counting blessings - focusing on what you already have instead of anxiously pursuing what you don't. Modern modesty means being at ease in your own skin and knowing who you are. It means asking your team for input and genuinely valuing what they share, being comfortable saying "I don't know" and "What do you think we should do?", and not feeling threatened when people you're leading assert their own leadership. As author Anne Lamott warns in Bird By Bird: "Whenever the world throws rose petals at you, which thrill and seduce the ego, beware. The cosmic banana peel is suddenly going to appear underfoot." The most admired leaders are those who justifiably could bring themselves more attention, use their power more selfishly, or take a bigger cut of the spoils—but deliberately choose not to. People want to work with leaders who never lose sight of their roots and who focus their leadership influence on helping others, not glorifying themselves.

Chapter 6: Master Management Fundamentals

While leadership and management aren't exactly the same, there's significant overlap between them. Both involve advancing goals, improving performance, mitigating risk, making sound decisions, and developing people. This chapter focuses on the management fundamentals that will improve your effectiveness as a leader. Bill Treasurer explains that good management starts with clear goals. Human beings are goal-directed creatures, and goals give people a sense of momentum and progress. Unfortunately, many organizations operate with vague goals that are really nothing more than platitudes. Bill shares examples of these "bullshit goals" he's heard in companies: "Be more competitive," "Reduce expenses," "Do better." These aren't goals; they're ongoing business imperatives. To have any chance of motivating people, goals must be clear, measurable, reachable, and set against a realistic deadline. Better examples include: "Reduce year-over-year employee turnover by 10 percent by the end of this year" or "Increase employee engagement by 7 percent, as measured by the company's annual employee engagement survey, by December 31." When setting goals, it helps to add context by discussing why the goal is important, how it connects to broader organizational goals, what resources will be needed, and what potential obstacles might arise. Prioritizing is another management essential. As Ahli Moore, President of X-Factor Solutions, discovered while consulting for a large telecom company: "If you have 150 priorities, you don't have any priorities." Not all tasks have the same importance or urgency. Bill suggests identifying criteria to gauge priorities, such as impact on safety, finances, customers, workload, performance, and risk. Once priorities are clear, they should be reviewed with your boss and team to ensure alignment. Clarifying expectations goes beyond setting goals and priorities. Everyone needs to know why the team's work matters, how it fits in the overall enterprise, what performance standards apply, and what regulations must be followed. But clarification alone isn't enough - you also need to inspect progress. As one vice president told Bill: "Two words that I keep in the forefront of my mind are expect and inspect." This isn't micromanagement; it's simply good management. Regular check-ins increase accountability and provide opportunities to offer support. Financial awareness is another critical management fundamental. Whether you lead a revenue-generating team or an internal support function, you need to understand your financial impact. As Bill puts it, "Act like an owner" means taking as much interest in the financial health of the organization as the owners do, being frugal, knowing your impact on profits or savings, and always seeking to make or save more money. Even if your team is a cost center rather than a revenue generator, you still need to clarify the value you provide. The safety team example illustrates this principle - while safety standards and equipment incur costs, eliminating the safety function would result in far greater expenses through increased accidents, insurance costs, legal issues, and employee turnover. Understanding and communicating this value is your responsibility. Contract management represents another often-overlooked fundamental. One longtime lawyer in a client's legal department keeps a bat in his office with the letters RTFCA burned into the wood - "Read The F-ing Contract...Again!" Too many inexperienced leaders get burned because they didn't carefully read or understand contract terms, especially those involving financial penalties for missed deadlines or budget overruns. The five widely accepted functions of management include planning (forecasting the future and setting goals), organizing (establishing roles and responsibilities), staffing (attracting and developing talent), controlling (monitoring progress and taking corrective action), and leading (which is the focus of the entire book). Mastering these fundamentals will significantly enhance your leadership effectiveness.

Chapter 7: Get Results That Matter

As a leader, your primary responsibility is getting results. It's the main reason leadership exists as a concept, and it will be the standard by which your leadership is ultimately judged. To the extent that you consistently deliver results, your job will be secure. If you don't, your leadership career is toast. Bill Treasurer uses the ancient Greek story of the Sword of Damocles to illustrate the pressure leaders face. When Damocles envied King Dionysius's power and prestige, the king offered to switch places with him for a day. Once seated on the throne, Damocles noticed a sword hanging above him, suspended by a single horse hair. This powerful metaphor represents the invisible pressure that comes with leadership positions - the constant threat of failure if results aren't delivered. Getting results isn't just about short-term wins; it often requires persistent intention over time. Rehnuma Karim's story exemplifies this approach. Growing up in Bangladesh, she rebelled against gender expectations and was encouraged by her father to "follow her heart." During her first job at UNICEF Bangladesh, she pitched the idea of a Youth Forum that would include children from all income levels. Years later, after earning her PhD and teaching at a university, she founded Heroes for All, a nonprofit organization that has organized leadership seminars for inner-city youth, started cross-cultural programs between the US and Bangladesh, distributed groceries during Covid lockdowns, and built a school for underprivileged children. Finishing what you start is critical to delivering results. Bill shares the story of hiring a social media marketing firm run by a creative leader named Caleb who would generate exciting ideas but rarely follow through. Meetings with Caleb left Bill feeling encouraged about their plans, but nothing would happen afterward. Bill nearly terminated their agreement until Courtenay, Caleb's more detail-oriented project manager, took charge of the account and actually delivered results. As Bill notes, "When you're a leader, you don't have to do the doing, but you do have to get the doing done." Some initiatives don't have a definite endpoint but require continuous improvement - what Bill calls "Mo' Better." He describes his work on the Walsh Group Leadership Initiative (WGLI), a leadership development program that has been running for over a decade. Though the program is well-established and successful, Bill regularly meets with the program sponsors for "Design Days" to refine and enhance it. As leadership researchers Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner suggest, leaders need to constantly ask: "What's better?" Whatever results you've achieved today need to be exceeded tomorrow. Long-term results often take substantial time and patience. Bill notes that executive decisions such as launching new products, developing new markets, or implementing succession plans can take years to fully realize. One succession plan he worked on culminated in a CEO transition that took ten years, with additional years required for the new CEO to fully acclimate to the role. The pressure to deliver results will be a constant companion throughout your leadership career. Working with urgency is good, but working with fury is counterproductive. Since getting results is an ever-present responsibility, make it part of your regular routine: Plan—work—finish. Repeat. And remember that setting boundaries is a sign of leadership maturity - sometimes delivering exceptional results on your most important priorities requires postponing less critical tasks.

Summary

Throughout this journey of exploring leadership two words at a time, we've discovered that effective leadership isn't about grand theories or complex frameworks. It's about mastering essential fundamentals and applying them consistently. As Bill Treasurer reminds us, "If you are blind to yourself and devoid of self-awareness, you will also be oblivious to the impact of your values, thoughts, and behaviors on those you are leading." The path to becoming an exceptional leader begins with looking inward before reaching outward. Know yourself, build trust, create safety, develop others, practice humility, master management, and focus relentlessly on results that matter. Take one immediate action today: choose a single two-word leadership concept from this book that resonates most strongly with you - whether it's "trust first," "create safety," or "practice humility" - and commit to embodying it in your interactions this week. Small, consistent steps in applying these principles will transform not only your leadership effectiveness but also the lives of those you have the privilege to lead.

About Author

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Bill Treasurer

Bill Treasurer is the Chief Encouragement Officer at Giant Leap Consulting (GLC), a courage-building company that exists to help people and organizations be more courageous to drive superior performance. He is dedicated to advancing the new organizational development practice of courage-building, a concept that he introduced in his internationally bestselling book, Courage Goes to Work.------------------------------------Bill's newest book is Leadership Two Words at a Time: Simple Truths for Leading Complicated People. It serves as a playbook for new leaders, covering the essentials that will improve performance, effectiveness, and enjoyment.John Ryan, past president and CEO of the Center for Creative Leadership, calls the book "honest, funny, and deeply insightful."Jeff Hayes, president and CEO of The Myers-Briggs Company says, “I have read many books on leadership during my career, but none have provided the practical guidance reflection and call to action that Leadership Two Words at a Time does...This is truly a must-read playbook, if you will, for every new leader. In fact, it’s a wonderful resource for all leaders.”------------------------------------Bill co-authored The Leadership Killer: Reclaiming Humility in an Age of Arrogance with U.S. Navy Seal Captain John Havlik (retired).Tony Bingham, president and CEO of the Association for Talent Development called the book a "valuable resource on what every leader should know, embrace, and practice if they want to be successful in the most meaningful way."E. Gordon Gee, the current president of West Virginia University, said, "In an age crying out for wise judgment and effective leadership, “The Leadership Killer” is an essential read."------------------------------------Bill is the author of A Leadership Kick in the Ass, which focuses on the importance of confidence and humility. The book received rousing endorsements from leadership luminaries such as Ken Blanchard, Marshall Goldsmith, Jim Kouzes, Adam Grant, and many others, and received the Gold Award from the Nonfiction Book Awards. Bill also wrote Leaders Open Doors, a simplified approach to leadership that emphasizes the importance of leaders as opportunity-creators. Bill donates all his royalties from this book to programs that support children with special needs.Bill is the creator of Courageous Leadership: Using Courage to Transform the Workplace. The comprehensive off-the-shelf courage-building training program has been taught on five continents in twelve countries since being published in 2011.Bill's first book, Right Risk is about how to take smart risks, and draws on Treasurer's experiences as both an organizational development professional and as a daredevil athlete.Bill's insights have been featured in hundreds of national and global media outlets, including The Washington Post, The NY Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Boston Herald, and Investor's Business Daily, Entrepreneur Magazine, Huffington Post, Leader-to-Leader, Woman's Day, Parent, Redbook, Fitness, American Way, and The Harvard Management Update.Since 1991, he has conducted over 1000 corporate workshops designed to strengthen people's leadership skills, improve team performance, accelerate innovation, and help executives behave more courageously. Among his clients are NASA, Saks Fifth Avenue, eBay, Accenture, UBS Bank, Spanx, eBay, Lenovo, Walsh Construction, Hugo Boss, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Forest Service, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs.Bill lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his wife Shannon and their three children, Bina, Alex, and Ian. To contact Bill, email [email protected] or go to CourageBuilding.com.

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