SOLVED! 9 Leadership Problems You’ll Face This Year

Episode #376 SOLVED! 9 Leadership Problems You’ll Face This Year

Emma: We’re in the studio with a little extra time, so we’re doing a rapid fire Q&A from questions that came in over the last seven days across Instagram, email, and LinkedIn. Marty, ready to roll?

Marty: Love it. Fire away.

Q1: Surviving a toxic, micromanaging boss

Emma: Sarah asks: “My boss is incredibly toxic — constant micromanaging, taking credit, and dumping their stress on everyone. How do I survive without losing my sanity?”

Marty: There’s a lot in that. A truly toxic boss is unlikely to change. Occasionally they don’t realise the impact they’re having, but most of the time they’re wedded to getting results their way and don’t care about the collateral damage. Micromanagement, though, is often just insecurity and is easier to tackle.

When my boss dipped too far into my knitting, I’d ask calm, direct questions: “Don’t you trust me to do my job?” or “What would I need to do to earn that trust and give you confidence I’ve got this handled?” Most micromanagers back off when you surface the trust issue. Sometimes they double down and become a Nike boss — “Just do it.” Either way, you get clarity quickly.

One of my favourites: a boss asked for a super-deep detail from three layers down. I said, “Robert, why would I know that? I have people in my team who are actually paid to know that.” He got it immediately and changed his approach within a day. Tackle it head on, non-confrontationally, and you’ll learn whether it’s fixable micromanagement or deeper toxicity.

Q2: Overthinking after stressful situations

Emma: Sammy asks: “I’m resilient in the moment, but I overthink afterwards. Did I do the best I could? How do I shorten the cycle to regain balance?”

Marty: Do a deliberate, time-boxed post-mortem. Don’t let it rattle around your head for weeks. Set aside an hour — bring a trusted advisor if useful — and ask: What happened? What could we have done better? Did we get the best result? What do we need to watch as the situation evolves? Close the loop, accept what’s outside your control, and channel the learning into being better next time. Then park it.

Q3: New tasks that contradict agreed priorities

Emma: Talia asks: “My boss agreed on our priority projects but keeps adding new tasks and says I should make it happen or prioritise better. What do I do?”

Marty: You need your value-ranked priorities to be your Bible. If something new comes in, you hold the line: “Great — where does this fit against our agreed value priorities? What shifts?” Something has to give: you’ll need to deprioritise another initiative, delay something, or put a high-value outcome at risk. This reframes the conversation from “I’m busy” to “We optimise value together.” If your boss can’t say no upstream, you must be strong in your downstream choices.

Emma: The value ranking spreadsheet we use in Leadership Beyond the Theory is perfect for putting this in black and white.

Marty: Exactly.

Q4: Strengths vs blind spots

Emma: Jack asks: “You talk a lot about leadership blind spots. Aren’t we told to focus on strengths, not weaknesses?”

Marty: When people say “work on your strengths and forget your weaknesses,” that’s only half true. Yes, keep developing strengths. But some blind spots are showstoppers — they’ll block your promotion. If you have a fatal flaw you ignore because it’s hard to fix, you won’t progress. “Only strengths” can be an excuse for weak leaders to avoid hard conversations. You need both: build strengths and neutralise the blockers.

Q5: How to approach a trusted advisor

Emma: Connor asks: “I know who I want as a trusted advisor. Do I: a) formally ask them; or b) keep it informal and steer our conversations that way?”

Marty: Definitely option B. I’ve never said, “You are my trusted advisor.” It just evolves. The conversation deepens, the cadence increases, and you focus on higher-order issues that matter to enterprise performance. Yes, it can create a “first among equals” effect. I tell the team that the only basis on which I’ll discriminate is merit. If you create more value, you’ll get more of my attention. That’s how a high-performance team runs.

Q6: Getting out of the weeds as the business scales

Emma: Tyson asks: “I’ve built my team but the business still depends on me. How do I get out of the weeds without it all falling apart?”

Marty: You have to leave a vacuum for others to grow into. If they can’t step into that space, you don’t have the right people — regardless of how long they’ve been with you or how much customers love them. Create a no-blame, no-excuses culture. Give your people the space to act, allow safe mistakes with good intent, coach hard, and expect growth. It’s disciplined restraint on your part. If you say it fast enough, it sounds easy. It isn’t — but it’s the only way.

Q7: Standards vs control — trusting your team

Emma: Mark asks: “I say I’m checking everything for standards, but maybe it’s control. How do I actually start trusting my team?”

Marty: It might be control, or it might be misplaced accountability. If your people know that you’re going to be their backstop, they won’t ever do the job as diligently as they should. As CEO at CS Energy, I kept fixing board papers before they were issued. Quality didn’t improve, no matter what I said, because everyone knew I’d fix them. As a circuit breaker, I decided to let the papers go to the board without fixing them myself. I told the chair I was going to do this, so that the board would see the reality, and my execs would feel the sting of consequences. Within three months the quality lifted and I didn’t need to touch them. Remove the safety net, make accountability real, and standards are guaranteed to rise.

Q8: Feedback for someone who shuts down

Emma: Alfie asks: “How do I give feedback to someone who’s conflict-averse and shuts down? I’m worried they’ll disengage.”

Marty: How much more can they disengage? If they can’t handle even mild constructive tension, they’re already disengaged and they certainly won’t be a high performer. Be empathetic, but don’t lower standards or use kid gloves that dilute expectations. Make expectations explicit, show the gap between their performance and the standard you’re setting, and support their improvement. If fragility is significant, encourage appropriate support — EAP or professional help — because you’re not their clinician. Your job is performance, care, and clarity, not fixing their life.

Q9: Busy manager who gives little feedback

Emma: Last one from Joe: “My manager’s too busy and gives little feedback. How do I handle that?”

Marty: Honestly, I loved that as an exec — it was freedom. I’d set ambitious plans, set targets, and define what “exceptional” looks like, and say, “Are you good with this?” If yes, I’d run. You can grow without a boss growing you: self-set stretch, calibrate your own standards, and push your team. It is nice to hear “well done” occasionally, but don’t wait for it if you want to challenge your team, develop your capability, and hit peak performance.

Emma: That’s our rapid fire for this week. Great answers, Marty.

Marty: Great questions. Let’s do it more often.