You know how many times someone told me I needed to change?
That I was too calm.
Too nice.
Too patient.
Like, “Michael, that’s not how you show up in business. You’ve gotta have a commanding voice. You’ve gotta show dominance.”
And for a while, I actually tried.
I played that game.
I pushed harder.
I tried to make my words command attention instead of invite it.
And guess what? It worked.
Kind of.
Because it never stopped feeling wrong.
It simply wasn’t me.
That’s why I never stopped looking for a different way.
Oh, what a rabbit hole that has led me into.
Because once you start looking, you see it everywhere:
→ The quiet leaders who read the room instead of performing in it.
→ The humble ones who don’t have to prove they are right because they’re busy getting it right.
→ The thoughtful ones who bring calmness when everyone else is panicking.
As I said, I’ve been told a thousand times that this wouldn’t work.
That the lions would eat you for lunch.
That in rooms like these, the loudest always win.
That people will take advantage of your openness.
That you simply can’t walk into the arena with calm and reason when everyone else is armed with politics and power plays.
They couldn’t be more wrong.
My new newsletter “What the Best Leaders Say” is dedicated to the people who prove this. It tells their story. It shows how they lead. And it goes deep to surface how you can too.
It’s going to launch soon and if you’ve ever wondered whether there’s a place for calm and kind in leadership, I think you’re going to absolutely love it. Click here if you want to get notified.
Keep lighting the path,
Michael
