How to 10x Your Leadership Impact (Without Doing More Work)

Want to make a bigger impact without doing more work? Great leadership starts with a better mindset.

In this episode, I’ll show you how to 10x, or more, your leadership impact by thinking differently. You’ll learn why most leadership behaviors don’t stick, and how to unlock sustainable change by focusing on three powerful questions that reframe your team’s purpose, creativity, and results.

Backed by research from Daniel Goleman and cognitive science, this is a mindset shift every leader needs.

Download your free “How 10X your leadership impact toolkit”: https://resources.jonathanhankin.com

🔹 Learn the 3 biggest leadership traps (and how to avoid them)

🔹 Use my 3-question coaching framework to create clarity and alignment

🔹 Discover why thoughts > feelings > behaviors is the real path to results

This channel is for growth-oriented leaders who want to lead with clarity, grow with courage, and change what matters. If that’s you—welcome.

▶️    Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/sLysEiYbxV0

▶️ Schedule a free discovery call: https://jonathanhankin.com/contact 

▶️ Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Leadership Impact

01:00 The Problem: Why Most Leaders Plateau

01:53 Trap 1: Keeping Decisions to Yourself

05:47 Trap 2: Sticking to What You're Good At

08:27 Trap 3: Inviting Input but Not Ownership

10:04 Three Transformational Questions for Leaders

13:43 Putting It All Into Practice

15:46 Conclusion and Challenge

Catch full episodes of video versions and other leadership videos on my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Jonathan-Hankin

Download Free Leadership Toolkits → https://www.jonathanhankin.com/leadership-toolkit-library

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Transcript

 Hey everyone and welcome to another Change Agent leadership episode. Let me ask you something. What if the key to dramatically increasing your leadership impact isn't about doing more but actually thinking differently?  That's what today's episode is about. I'm gonna show you how to 10 x or a hundred x.

Your leadership impact depending on where you are in your leadership journey, by shifting your mindset first, not just your behavior.  We're gonna walk through three common traps that leaders fall into, and three powerful mindset shifts that can help you. Better unlock results without burnout. That's always the key not to burnout.

And this isn't just theory, it's also backed by neuroscience, real research and results that I've seen as I've led different people.   Also, reminder, as we jump into this topic, I post daily leadership tips, quotes, and book recommendations on my YouTube post channel. So check that out and subscribe today.  So let's dive in.

Let's talk about the problem. Why most leaders plateau. Daniel Goldman, one of the top minds in emotional intelligence, published a lot of research that changed on how I think about leadership, specifically about emotional intelligence.   He found that when people try to change behavior directly, the success rate is around 10 to 30%.

 That's a decent return on your financial investments, but not great on personal growth and success in your life. He said, the real breakthrough comes when we shift our thoughts and feelings first.   That kind of change actually succeeds 60 to 80% of the time. That's huge. Think about that 60 to 80% of the time, instead of 10 to 30%.

 That's a leadership home run.   So what's holding most leaders back? Well, let's talk about the first trap. The first trap is you keep the decisions to yourself.  You're smart, you're experienced, and you're making decisions fast. But when you make all the decisions, you're actually limiting the leadership potential of your team.

And exhausting yourself in the process. This trap is so easy to fall into. I have from time to time. The general thought for me at least is I can do it faster than training somebody else. And to be honest, that might be true at times, but that thinking is very shortsighted. It doesn't take into account if I can reduce or reproduce myself, give work away, if you will.

I can focus on. Work that I might actually enjoy more. And when we do this, it also limits our potential as leaders.

 So what's holding most leaders back? Well, let's talk about the first trap. You keep all the decisions to yourself. You're smart, you're experienced, and you're making decisions fast. But when you make all the decisions or when I make all the decisions, we're actually limiting the leadership potential of not just ourselves, but our team and.

Exhausting ourselves in the process. This trap is so easy to fall into. I've done it from time to time, and generally the thought is, or at least the thought I've had, is I can do it faster than training somebody else. And to be honest, that may be true, but the type of thinking is very shortsighted and doesn't lead to good long-term results.

 It doesn't take into account that if I can reproduce myself, in other words, give work away, I can focus on the work that. I might actually enjoy more when we don't do this. It also limits our potential as a leader. More importantly, if we don't pass on tasks and information, we unintentionally communicate four things.

There might be more, but four things that I think we communicate, which is, I don't need you. I can do it all. I'm smart. You're not. And the fourth one, I don't care about your success or progression. That last one is the real reason, if any of them to train others and pull them into decisions.  Upcoming leaders need reps or repetitions, if you will, just like going to a gym.

If we don't give them opportunity to grow, how can we expect them to take on? Heavy, like 200 pound responsibilities when they haven't been shown how to lift 50 pounds. This is one reason new leaders burn out many times without reps or training. The first big project that they take on or lean into feels like 500 pounds.

Well, what happens if you try to lift 500 pounds? Well, we do. Even if they can lift it. Say you go to the gym and you can lift 500 pounds, you're probably gonna throw your back out or worse. Then what happens in leadership? Well, they fail. And then their boss starts to think, oh, they can't handle it. They start downward a spiral with them as a leader thinking they, they don't need tasks, we need to give it to somebody else.

And the list goes on. So yes, stretch projects are good, but give them a hundred pounds, not 500 pounds to start.   So ask yourself, are you giving the right stretch goals? Stretch stretch projects to your team? Are you training them or are you just expecting them to figure it out? I understand there's a balance there.

People need to take initiative, but nobody needs to start from zero.    And if you are the one getting overloaded, so let's say your boss is overloading you, something you can do that I do is rate the weight of the assignments you are receiving, ask. What weight can I lift right now? Is the gap achievable with help?

What does success actually look like? It's not about saying that's too heavy. I'm not gonna try to lift it up. It's actually about knowing your limits, what support you need, and having a plan to grow.   Expand your circle, pass on your knowledge, develop the next generation.  Trap two is you keep doing the work you were good at.

What does that mean? Well, it's comfortable. You're confident there and it feels productive because you're, you're getting things  done 'cause it's natural and you're probably getting a lot done because you're, you're, um, naturally gifted at it. And you've done it a lot, but if you're still doing the work that you were praised for in your previous role, you're probably not operating at your current levels capacity.

You're stuck in what was not, what needs to be. This is highlighted in the book, what got you here? It won't get you there, which I covered in a previous episode. One of the key questions in that book is, are you successful because of yourself? Or in spite of yourself. In other words, are you operating at the same level, repeating the same old success loops, or are you growing, stretching and learning constantly and developing those around you?

 Have you set a ceiling without realizing it?   If so, ask, what are you afraid of? What motivation have you lost that made you reach the level you're at? What's holding you back from leaning into something new? And here's the catch.   If you've hit a ceiling, your team has too. Your team can only go as far as you've gone and are willing to take them  if they're trying to grow, but you are not leading and modeling the way they're either outpacing you.

Or they're likely going to leave.    So you've got three options. I think there might be more, but I can think of three. Option one, take charge of your development and keep growing. What's the simplest way? Hire a coach. Hire me. Hire somebody else. But trying to figure it out on your own is exhausting. You don't know where to start.

Many times, hire a coach. What's it gonna cost you? 30 minutes of your life. Schedule a free discovery call today with me. Lots of coaches offer, offer free discovery calls. Take them up on it. Take me up on it. It's 30 minutes of your life you're not going to waste. It's gonna be very useful. Usually there's a takeaway just from that 30 minutes free.

30 minute session. Option one is to hire a coach or to develop in some way. Two, you lose your best team members. They're going to move on. They're not going to stay. They're gonna find another job. Or number three on a French. Unfortunately, you are going to get bypassed or you're gonna be let go. That's just the reality of it.

 If you are not growing and you're not developing and taking your team, when your team isn't growing, they're gonna ask, what's the cause? The cause is the leader.    So ask yourself, am I in a rut? What new ideas or systems or actions have I tried in the past three months? If the answer is none, then it's time to make a change.    Trap.

Number three. The final one is you invite input but not ownership. So you bring your team into the room and ask for updates, but they represent their individual functions, not shared goals.  What happens, you get death by report out instead of co-creation, and that kills innovation behind this. It's a mindset focused on control.

Task and checking boxes instead of unlocking your team's full potential.   So in other words, are your meetings report focused or strategic focused?  I know you need both, but if they're always report focused, you're never gonna lead to strategic focused meetings because just like staying stuck in your old skills, staying stuck in old meeting habits won't lead to new results.

It'll just keep you busy. But we're not here to just check boxes. We're here to lead ourselves and those around us.  Innovation is the superpower of growth, not just for you, but also for your team. And you don't have to be an inventor yourself to lead innovation. Many people think, well, I'm not a natural creator, innovator.

 I, I don't know what to do. And they just stop. No. Lean into your team. Lean into the inventors on your team or those around you. Who can you bring in that are inventors or innovators in your, around your team? Might be in your company. Maybe you bring in a consultant, let them lead part of the meeting.

Which lights them up because you're leading into their gifting and their skills, and your team is going to engage more. If you don't, you're gonna get death by meeting in a stagnated culture. But the good news there is a better way. Let's talk about some habits, three powerful thoughts that transform leaders.

 If you want to change behavior, start by changing your thoughts.  The next three questions I'm gonna ask are simple, but I think they're transformational If you actually put them into practice. I've seen them change. Executive teams, unlock culture, create solutions, and refocus, burned out leaders.

 So thought number one, what's the work only we can do together that will make us proud?

So that's the first question. What's the work only we can do together that will make us proud? This isn't about busy work. This isn't about, um, just making tasks. It's actually about legacy.  This question forces alignment on purpose and gets your team out of the weeds. It also breaks down the silo mindset that we often fall into.

We're focused on getting our own tasks done, but this question invites us to zoom out. And align as a team. Ask your team this at the start of a new project or a quarter, write down the answers, align around them. Use this as a filter for what really matters.  So try this, kick off your next team meeting by asking, what's the work only we can do together that will actually make us proud six months from now?

This will shift your team towards shared impact, not just completed checklists.   Thought number two. Ask this question, what tensions or paradoxes can only we resolve that will move us forward? Again, what tensions or paradoxes can only we resolve that will move us forward? Leadership is full of paradoxes.

 I mean, we hear them all the time. Be confident and humble. Move fast. But be thoughtful. Give feedback and show care. The list goes on. You probably have your own. These questions make space for nuances, for emotional intelligence and for perspective. When you ask it, you move the conversation from tasks to in transformational dialogue.

That's where real transformation. And innovation, Liz.  So try this. Ask your team what's the biggest tension we're facing right now, then follow up with and what might we learn from it? Another question to ask after you've listed out the other paradoxes I gave above is ask what paradoxes do we face in our specific industry or culture or workplace?

Process that together and then understand what the next steps are.  Thought three. Is this question, what results do we want to accomplish together that will move us towards our purpose? Again, listen to the words, what results do we want to accomplish together that will move us towards our purpose, not tasks, not to do lists.

Results.  When we shift our focus from actions to outcomes, we give the team authority, autonomy and stay aligned with what really matters. That also gives you, as a leader, the ability to step back from solving everything and start watching your team grow. Not only just watching them go, being proactive in coming alongside them.

I've seen it firsthand. Meeting after meeting  when people believe. They're heard, valued, and trusted culture shifts, teams get stronger.  So try this. Start your next strategy session by asking what outcomes are we communicating as a team that align with our larger purpose?  And then last, how do you put this all into practice?

Well, so how do you actually use the, use These three questions. You don't need to overhaul your calendar. Just start with one moment of intention. Maybe you've got a leadership process become more about status than strategy, or you're launching something new or a project stuck and you just need to hit, reset.

Whatever it is, don't overcomplicate it.   Step one, choose one team or group that you want to work with. Your direct reports, a project, a team that a project's working on. You name the group. Step two, give its space. Schedule a 30 to 45 minute meeting.

Don't tack it on to a current meeting. Call it what it is. Maybe a leadership impact alignment session. And then number three, ask these three questions. Bring the questions, not the answers.  What's the work only we can do together that will make us proud? What tensions or paradoxes must we resolve? And then what results are we committed to that move us towards our purpose?

 Also, if you're open to a trace, try to say something along the lines of, I wanted to zoom out for a little bit. Just be real. I wanna zoom out a little bit. Before we align any new tasks, let's step back and ask what really matters and make sure we're rowing in the same direction. Again, it has to be your words and you have to mean it, but make sure you tee it up in the right way so people know where you're headed.

Write it down, discuss it, and then revisit in six to eight weeks. These aren't one-off one-time questions. They're habits that anchor your leadership. In purpose. Great leadership isn't about how many hours you grind out or how many plates you spend, although some people measure that. That's not what real true leadership is about, is about.

It's actually about clarity of thought, aligning purpose, and shared ownership. So don't settle for surface level, level leadership. Shift the way you think and you'll shift the impact you make.  If you wanna go deeper, download the free toolkit linked in the show notes below three questions to 10 x, your impact leadership, your leadership impact.

 Um, there's a worksheet, a conversation guide to help you with this and with your teams. You're not starting from zero. It's not what we ever want to do. So your challenge this week or in the next month, just pick one of the three questions and bring it to your next meeting. Start small, but start now. This one shift could change your team and your leadership trajectory.

Until next time, I'm Jonathan Hankin, your change agent leadership coach.

Keep questioning, keep growing, and keep leading change.