🏆 Introducing The Leadership Series: An Operator’s Guide

This is Local Legends — a deep dive into the craft of building enduring small businesses. 🏆

Let’s cut right to it:

Every company rises or falls on the strength of its leadership.

It’s not just about strategy or vision. It’s about decisions made in the heat of the moment, when things go wrong, and how a leader keeps their team on course. Over the years, I’ve learned that finding the right person to lead isn’t just important — it’s everything.

That’s why I’m launching a new series on Local Legends:

The Leadership Series: An Operator’s Guide

My new series, The Leadership Series: An Operator’s Guide is here to explore the attributes that make a great leader and which qualities shape the success (or failure) of a company.

From Churchill to Mandela to Musk, leadership takes many forms.

This series will examine leadership from all angles — decision-making, culture-building, vision-setting, and more.

At Decada, ensuring we have the right leader in place is one of our biggest responsibilities.

And when we get it wrong, it’s one of the most expensive mistakes we can make. It can wreck everything from the balance sheet to culture, driving away top talent. At its worst, it leads to a downward spiral that’s hard to stop.

But when we get it right, the business stabilizes. Operations run smoothly, people stick around, and growth becomes consistent. A strong leader cuts through the noise, keeps the team focused, and gets results — even when curveballs are inevitably thrown.

In large public companies, there’s too much at stake to hire anyone but the best — and the best are always in demand. A strong leader is like an insurance policy. Anything less can destroy value.

It’s clear that leadership matters, whether we like it or not.

Early in Decada’s journey, I was talking with a friend in private equity. He said something that stuck with me:

“Being on the investing side of the table from CEOs, I’ve always seen operators as wizards behind the curtain — somehow translating capital and targets into results.

No idea how they do it, but they’re worth their weight in gold when they do.”

That insight pushed me to dig deeper into what makes a great leader and how they translate vision into results.

This series will serve as a field guide for leaders of all kinds.

I’ll share lessons I’ve learned from hiring CEOs, stories from my own journey, and profiles of leaders I respect.

Along the way, we’ll dive into key themes that drive success:

• Decision-Making & Prioritization: Navigating uncertainty and making choices you won’t regret.

• Emotional Intelligence: The overlooked skill that can make or break your team.

• Culture Building: What really matters beyond the surface-level stuff.

• Vision & Strategy: Setting a course that’s ambitious yet achievable.

• Accountability: Building systems that foster responsibility.

• The Art of Delegation: Why great leaders know how to hand off the reins.

• Resilience & Adaptability: Staying strong when the inevitable chaos hits.

• Your Supporting Cast: Surrounding yourself with the right team.

• Talent Development: Identifying, nurturing, and retaining top performers.

This series will take a few months and multiple posts to complete — and I’ll write about other topics along the way.

This is the guide I wish I had earlier in my career. And I’m excited to share it with you.

Topics you’d like to see explored? Hit reply and I’ll incorporate them in the series.