I came across this framework recently and couldn’t stop thinking about how much of leadership struggles — not from lack of effort, but from how we think.
We grind harder. We push louder. We add more.
But rarely do we stop to question the thinking underneath the action.
Here’s what I’ve learned from years of leading and mentoring: the quality of your decisions is only as good as the quality of your mental models.
Consider just three of these ten:
Second-Order Thinking reminds us that the cheap decision today often becomes the expensive problem tomorrow. Cutting training budgets feels like fiscal discipline — until your best people leave.
Inversion Thinking asks us to stop asking “How do I retain my best people?” and instead ask “What would make them leave?” The answers will surprise you.
Compounding is perhaps the most underrated leadership truth of all. The one-on-one conversation you almost cancelled. The feedback you chose to give kindly instead of harshly. The habit of reading 30 minutes a day. None of it looks like much — until suddenly, it’s everything.
Great leadership isn’t about monumental moves.
It’s about better thinking, consistently applied.
Here’s a question for you to sit with today:
Which of these 10 mental models are you least likely to use — and is that gap quietly costing you as a leader?
