Welcome to the Brilliance Brief. Every week, we break down leadership, mindset, and personal growth into something real and doable. Expect research-backed insights, a little storytelling, and practical ideas that actually fit into your life (even the messy parts).

This issue is sponsored by beehiiv

Brilliance Brief has run on beehiiv since day one.

Three years and 63,127 readers later, it’s still what I recommend when someone asks me how to start a newsletter. It’s easy to start. The tools to grow and earn real money are built in, like their ad network and recommendations. And beehiiv keeps adding more to make it even better.

You have expertise people would pay attention to. Start sharing it with beehiiv.

Get 30% off your first 3 months with code JUSTIN30

About 10 years ago, I was named CIO at a $4 billion company.

It was a huge global organization. There were 3 regional CIOs (I was responsible for the Americas Region).

And that meant I reported to 3 bosses: the global CIO, the CEO of North America, and the CEO of Latin America.

The job was massive. And there was a problem.

I had never worked in technology a single day in my life.

No computer science degree. No background in code. I didn’t know the first thing about managing servers or building network architecture.

I got the job because I know how to lead people, and I knew how the business ran. I had led a P&L of $100M and a 400-person team. The company needed someone who could help the technology team connect with the rest of the business.

Walking in on day one, I was nervous.

The team sitting across from me had spent decades mastering their craft. They lived and breathed technology.

They had zero reason to trust me. 

When people take over a new team, their first instinct is usually to prove themselves.

They walk in with a new vision and start making big changes. They think action creates authority.

Most of the time the opposite happens. It destroys trust. It tells the team you think they were doing everything wrong before you showed up.

During my first week, I brought my leadership team into a conference room. Then I said what everyone was already thinking:

“I know you don’t trust me yet. Why should you? And I’m okay with that.”

“I’m not here to tell you how to do your jobs. You’re the experts.”

“What I’m here to do is remove the roadblocks in your way, stand up for you with senior leadership, and help you be successful.”

The tension in the room started to melt.

Then I spent two days asking questions instead of giving answers.

What frustrates you most about your day? What are you worried will change? What do you hope will change? What can I get out of your way this month?

We spent two days listening to each other. The team shared their fears and honest frustrations with me. 

Then I went to the business leaders across the region and asked them the same kind of questions. What frustrates you about IT? What should we do more of? Less of?

After I listened to both sides, we started building a plan together. 

Harvard Business School researcher Amy Cuddy spent years studying how we judge new people.

Her research found that whenever we meet a new leader, our brains silently ask two questions:

#1: “Can I trust this person?” (Warmth)

#2: “Can I respect this person?” (Competence)

Most leaders try to answer the second question first. They want everyone to know how smart they are.

Cuddy found that trust has to come first. If people don’t believe you care about them, your competence doesn’t matter. 

People need to know your heart before they care about your head.

#1. Ask before you change anything.

Learn the history of the team first. Find out why things were set up the way they are.

Then ask your team what’s working well. What do they hope you never change?

Protecting the good parts builds respect faster than criticizing the broken parts. It also makes people much more open to changes you make later. 

#2. Clear one small roadblock fast.

Don’t try to fix the entire 5-year plan in your first month. Find one annoying headache that slows your team down every day, and make it disappear.

A meeting nobody needs. An approval that takes too long. Better tools.

When you remove a roadblock, you prove that you’re here to serve them. Not micromanage them. 

#3. Build the vision together.

Nobody likes being handed a plan they had no say in creating.

Once you’ve listened to your team and the people they support, bring everyone back into the room.

Share what you heard. Be honest about the problems. Then ask where you should go together.

When people help write the plan, they work twice as hard to make it succeed.

Schedule a quick 15-minute chat with one person on your team this week. Ask them one question:

“What is one roadblock in your way right now I can help remove?”

Listen to what they say. Don’t defend or make excuses.

Just say thank you, and get to work on removing it.

Talk soon,
Justin

P.S. Have you ever had a new boss walk in and change everything on day one? 

Hit “reply.” I’d love to hear how it went.