Proven Tactics to 10x Your Impact as a Leader

Kline says leaders can pursue many goals, but not all at once. He and his wife used that principle while building their business, choosing between teaching courses, creating digital products, and writing a newsletter. He also notes that deciding whether to focus or pivot depends on the company and its circumstances.

Kline advises employees, especially early in their careers, to look for ways to contribute beyond their job description. In one-on-ones, he suggests employees bring their goals, progress, problems, and plans so their manager can coach them and remove obstacles. He also recommends asking for specific feedback on a development goal, alongside occasional broader questions about what to keep, stop, and start doing.

Kline says employees should learn how promotion decisions work at their company and who has input. He suggests building relationships with decision-makers by contributing useful skills, such as automating manual work, or sharing a concise internal newsletter. He advises stating promotion ambitions clearly and working with a manager on a plan.

Kline says fear of losing craft, relevance, or quality can keep managers from delegating. He recommends starting with low-risk work, experiments, and tasks the manager struggles with, then gradually handing off more critical responsibilities. Delegation creates room for strategic work, and team members may do the work better.

Kline says he initially spent too much time on underperformers and learned to protect time for high performers, whose gains can have greater impact. For struggling employees, he first checks whether they have the tools, access, and support to succeed, then discusses their willingness and ability to do the work. He also shares how direct coaching helped him recognize that impatience and dismissive behavior were pushing his team away.