S31E6AI RECAP🎙️ LIVE AWLL from Proverbs — Chapter 6

Hi, I'm John Maxwell. When the top companies in the world are looking for trainers, speakers, and coaches, there's one name that stands above the rest, and that's Maxwell Leadership. Our certified team members have gotten proven results for companies all over the globe, and our reputation I'm proud to say is second to none. Some of our members have risen to the top of their profession, including the one you're going to meet today. I proudly introduce you to my friend, Bob Fabien Zinga.

Welcome to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach BZ, where we help you lead with purpose and succeed with impact. If you're ready to grow into the kind of leader others want to follow, this podcast is for you. If you're determined to elevate your success and leave a lasting legacy, this podcast is for you. As my mentor, Dr. John C. Maxwell, reminds us, everything rises and falls on leadership. Our goal is simple, to inspire you, challenge you, and equip you with insights that can transform the trajectory of your leadership journey. Welcome aboard to another episode of the Leadership and Success Podcast with Coach Bob Fabien Zinga.

When you roam, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will keep you. And when you awake, they will speak with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the law a light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life.

Reproof of instruction are the way of life.

Wow.

So healthy leaders, they welcome instruction, correction, and boundaries, always open for feedback. Accountability doesn't limit leadership, it really protects it. It's like the guardrail to keep you protected and doing what you are meant to do. So application. So build personal and professional accountability structure. Encourage dissent and constructive feedback, even from people who don't like you, because in all of the dirt that comes out of their mouth, there might be a nugget of gold which could make the difference. And many times, a few people throughout my life, for whatever reason, they didn't like me and they would just criticize me. They thought they were hurting me, but actually by their criticism, they helped me get better because I'm like, yeah, this one thing that they said is valid, everything else is a bunch of nonsense, but this one here is true. I need to change, I need to get better. So they help me get better. It reminds me of a story Esmael told me when I was a teenager. I think it was a goat or something fell into a ditch and then the owner was very, very sad and crying and he thought, okay, my goat is dead, so it's started putting dirt in the well in order to bury the goat, but every time the dirt would fall on the goat, he would just shake it up and then step on top of the dirt. And they did it over and over and over again until there was so much dirt underneath the feet of the goat that the goat was able to jump out of the well. Again, another illustration. I don't know if that's a true story or not, but I like it. And what it means is even when people put a lot of dirt on you, just shake it off, keep the gold, get rid of the dirt, and you step on top of it, right? So you use it as a point for you to move up to the next level. That's wisdom. Alright, so normalize coaching at every level, even from the people who report to you or the most junior people on the team. Do not ignore those just because they are junior. Again, they may have a way of looking at things and experience or knowledge that I interviewed, uh, Chris Robinson. I believe it was on season 4, episode 1 or 2, last year in 2025. So you can go to your favorite podcast platform and listen to it. Okay, so the insight: leadership erosion happens slowly. It doesn't happen overnight. It's very, very slow through delay, comfort, and excuses. It's kind of like the frog, right? You put the frog in, uh, room temperature water, the frog is fine. And then you start turning up the heat little by little, degree by degree, and the frog is not going to notice that the water is getting hot. Because if you put a frog in hot boiling water, it's going to jump right out because it's too hot. But if it's room temperature and then it's just 1 degree higher, 1 degree higher, 1 degree higher, and by the time it's going to be boiling, the frog will die. So that's kind of the image for this. Erosion doesn't happen overnight. It's just little by little by little. It takes time, and people don't realize it, and before they know it, then it is too late. So, the greatest threat is not failure, but drift. Okay, so application: conduct regular self-assessment and team retrospectives, replace comfort metrics with growth indicators, and address small lapses before they are then into habit. Because I think what you do continually becomes your habit, and your habit, I believe, will direct your destiny. All right, lesson number 4: Character failure is a leadership failure. That's verses 12 through 15. Character failure is a leadership failure. Go.

A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth. He He winks with his eyes, he shuffles his feet, he points with his fingers. Perversity is in his heart, he devises evil continually, he sows discord. Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly, suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.

Now you notice that the calamity comes suddenly, but the action of the perverse man was not sudden. It was consistent over a long period of time, and when the bucket got full, then calamity came. What I'm also saying is if you do the right thing, the bucket is going to come full and the blessing will come and the rewards will come, right? So good or bad, good or evil, it is really up to you. Your action will dictate what is going to happen to you. There are a lot of things we absolutely cannot control, right? We have no control on the weather, maybe no control on the economy or politics or a lot of things that's just above our control. But there are some things we can control, the way we think and what we do, how we respond to what happens to us. So, all right, welcome to another edition of the Leadership and Success podcast. Today we are reviewing what we did on January 6th, which was a study of Proverbs chapter 6. This is not a religious study, but it's looking for ancient wisdom, being mentored by the book of Proverbs, really digging into ancient wisdom and leadership lessons from the book of Proverbs. All right, so I've played you about 3 clips from the original episode from January 6th. Today we are going to have what I call AI recap, artificial intelligence recap. So I will have 2 videos all done with artificial intelligence. The first one's about 7 minutes and the second one about 10 minutes, so about 17 minutes total, which I am going to play to give you a summary of what we talked about on January 6th. And the article is out now, so you can go ahead and read the article I wrote, the leadership devotion from Proverbs chapter 6. And you can also go to YouTube, here on LinkedIn, and your favorite podcast platform, and you're gonna be able to listen to all of the episodes from chapter 1 through chapter 31, from episode 1 through episode 31, which we studied on January 1st through January 31st last month. So today again, it's just going to be an AI summary of Proverbs chapter 6. Before we do that, for our moment of gratitude, which we have to be grateful every single time we meet— actually, before I get to it, let me know where you are joining us from, city, what state. Let me also know what you are grateful for. I'm about to tell you what I am grateful for today. If you watch last, uh, yesterday's episode, I think you will have a clue. But also, as you listen to this, uh, AI recap from Proverbs chapter 6, also let me know 3 to 5 takeaways from today's lesson. And out of those, let me know one principle that you intend to put into practice today. Because one thing with wisdom, with leadership, is it's not just theoretical, right? It's not just mental. It's something that you have to listen, but more importantly is that you have to practice. You have to do it, right? You have to bring it to, uh, to pass into your life. And the way you do it is by putting it into practice. And I guarantee you are going to receive, uh, the results you are supposed to when you do that. Okay, so what I will do now, a moment of gratitude. So just like yesterday, but really every day this month, I am really grateful for Black History Month. So we are February in the US, it's the shortest month in the year, but it's Black History Month. And every single day I am so grateful for the things I am learning about African American history because African American history is American history. This is the book I am mainly using, African American Firsts: Famous, Little-Known, and Unsung Triumphs of Blacks in America, written by John Potter. I have the fourth edition here. Great, great book. I highly recommend it. So right now I am focusing really on all of the firsts in the US military because Blacks have served in the US military from the very beginning, right, since the inception of this country. Up to today. But sometimes they are really unsung heroes and nobody knows. So, uh, before I get to the military, first, uh, first of all, I am going to talk about what happened today. Today is February 6th, 2026. So what day in history are we going to remember today? Let me share my screen. So today we're going to be talking about February 6th, 1902. What happened in Kentucky, Nicholasville, Kentucky. Well, on February 6th, 1902, a white mob lynched Thomas Brown, a 19-year-old Black man, on the courthouse lawn in Nicholasville. Thomas had been taken from a jail cell by a mob of roughly 200 white men and murdered without a trial. So there was absolutely no due process. And also, how can you get someone out of jail to murder them? Aren't you supposed to be safe when you are in jail? Under the custody of the state or the federal government. But anyway, this was back in 1902. So Thomas had been arrested following an allegation— again, you are innocent in this country until proven guilty— but allegation of sexual impropriety involving a white woman, an accusation that was never tested in court. Like so many Black victims of racial terror, he was denied due process. Presumed guilty by race alone and executed by vigilance violence. How sad, how sad. That happened again February 6th, 1902. And I have a couple of the news clippings from that time. So it says here, women cheer mob's work, nigger lynched at Nicholasville, Kentucky, and act cheered. So they really enjoy seeing that for some reason. This one, a lynch in Nicholasville at high noon. And they celebrated that. Here, was captured this morning, Brown attacked girl in, well, allegedly in secluded road as she was returning from school. Girl is but 15 years old. Allegedly he did that. And here, this is Thomas Brown and it looks like He was 17 years old during this census in 1883 in Kentucky. Terrible crime near Nicholasville. Another newspaper says, Tom Brown swings nigger allowed to live until identified by victim and then lynched in courthouse yard. So Brown Thomas, a man was lynched yesterday. So this was just like a regular, occurrence, uh, back then. Last week a negro assaulted Miss De La Paul, a prominent young lady, near her home in Jessamine County, dragging her from a buggy on the public highway just before dark. The negro was taken to jail, and next morning the young lady fully identified him. A crowd— not a mob, as some papers reported, I wonder what difference that makes— took him from the officers and hanged him in the courthouse yard. At Nicholasville. Again, they killed him without any due process whatsoever. There was even a spoon that memorialized his lynching. Really, how sad that is. But this is what happened in America, February 6, 1902, in Nicholasville, Kentucky. All right, another thing I want to share about Black History Month. This one is a lot more positive, again from this book. African American first. Who was the very first African American woman to enlist in the US Army? Well, her name is Cathay Williams. I think I have a picture of her right now. Very, very first Black female soldier in the history of the US Army. She was born enslaved near Independence. Cathay Williams entered the world at the intersection of bondage and possibilities. Her father was free, her mother was enslaved. When the Civil War broke out, Union soldiers liberated Williams and she traveled with them as a cook and a washerwoman, close enough to observe military life, discipline, and purpose, even if she was barred from serving, just for being a woman. After the war, determined to make a living and claim agency over her future, Cafe Williams did something extraordinary. Again, she was a woman and she was Black, Used to be enslaved, free now after the war. She disguised as a man. She enlisted in November 1866 in the 38th United States Infantry, one of the African American regiments later known as the Buffalo Soldiers. We talked about that yesterday. At the time, medical examinations were not required. Her enlistment papers listed her as William Café. For nearly 2 years, she served as a soldier carrying her musket, standing guard, and performing the same duty as the men beside her. Wow. So she's the very, very first woman to enlist into the US Army. That was in November 1866. And again, her name, Cathay Williams. How extraordinary. All right, so now what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna play the two AI clips summarizing Proverbs chapter 6. Again, originally we recorded this on January 6th, and you can go on your favorite podcast platform and listen to it. So now we're gonna give you the summary, and after that I'm gonna give you two more clips from the original broadcasting, and that should be the end of it. Again, while you are listening, I want you to think about 3 to 5 takeaways, uh, that you are you're going to take from today's lesson. And also think about one principle that you are going to put into practice because wisdom isn't wisdom until you actually do it. You don't know anything until you actually practice it. It's by doing that you get to know. All right. Let's listen to the first 7-minute AI recap.

Hey everyone, and welcome. You know, when we think about great leadership, We probably picture these bold visions and big, inspiring speeches. But what if the most important part of leadership isn't really about what you build, but what you prevent from breaking in the first place? Today, we're diving into some ancient wisdom that frames leadership as this incredibly powerful discipline of prevention. And this, this really gets to the heart of it, doesn't it? A leader's downfall is almost never a sudden, dramatic explosion. As the source material from Proverbs chapter 6 suggests, It's actually more like a quiet erosion. You know, the small compromises, the little warning signs that get ignored, and the moments of discipline that get pushed off—until the entire structure just fails. So how exactly does this quiet collapse happen? Well, according to this ancient wisdom, most leadership failures aren't just random acts of fate. Nope, they are the predictable—and totally preventable—consequences of warnings that were ignored and disciplines that were neglected. So what this really means is we have to completely flip how we think about leadership. It's not just about motivating a team towards some grand vision. It's more like a risk management guide. A wise leader's number one job is to prevent harm, to relentlessly protect trust, and to build systems that sustain credibility for the long haul. Okay, so if failure is preventable, what do we do about it? Well, it all starts with foundational discipline. We're talking about the personal habits and the systems a leader puts in place that act as the bedrock for everything else they do. Alright, Lesson number 1 is all about governing your commitments. See, every single time a leader says yes to something without having the resources or the clarity or the control to actually see it through, they're chipping away at their own freedom to act. These vague promises and reckless endorsements quietly, slowly box you in. And this image Wow! It just powerfully nails the urgency, right? The source uses this incredible metaphor of a gazelle fleeing a hunter to describe how you should escape a bad commitment—not slowly or politely, but immediately, with everything you've got. Discernment on the front end is what preserves your freedom to lead effectively down the road. Okay, for our second lesson in discipline, we're actually gonna look at the humble ant. The ant has no manager, right? No one is enforcing deadlines. And yet, it diligently prepares during the calm seasons, building systems that work under pressure. This is a huge rebuke to leaders who kind of thrive on chaos and only act when a crisis forces their hand. So look, here's the bottom line. Talent might get you in the door. It might create amazing opportunities, but it's the quiet, consistent discipline that sustains success. The systems you build when things are easy are the very things that will save you when things get hard. Now, the third discipline is fighting complacency, and this one is tricky because it often disguises itself as rest. But there's a huge difference. Rest is a strategic pause for recovery, while drift is this slow, quiet decline that's fueled by comfort, excuses, and putting off tough decisions. The greatest threat to a strong leader isn't always some massive failure; it's the slow drift into mediocrity. And this is so important. Neglecting a small problem, a slight dip in standards, or a difficult conversation—it is never a neutral act. Every single time you choose to ignore something, you are actively choosing decline. You have to address those small lapses before they harden into these destructive, culture-defining habits. Okay, so now let's zoom out a bit. Let's see how this all scales up from the individual leader to the entire organization. A leader's personal discipline—or their lack of it—doesn't happen in a vacuum. It directly shapes the health of their team and the culture they create. You know, there's this really dangerous myth in the leadership world today, this idea that results can somehow make up for a lack of character. Well, the source material is crystal clear. This is false. Deception, manipulation, hidden agendas— they destroy trust far more quickly and permanently than incompetence ever could. And just like those leadership failures we talked about, the erosion of trust happens totally beneath the surface. Each small character compromise, every broken promise, every tolerated lie, it all adds up unseen until the consequences just arrive all at once. The collapse feels sudden, but man, it was a long time coming. In fact, the source identifies 4 behaviors that are pretty much guaranteed to destroy a healthy culture: pride, deception, injustice, and discord. The text is adamant that these are not just personality quirks you can manage around. They are leadership disqualifiers. They are basically poison to a team. And here's the thing that you have to remember: your culture is a direct reflection of the worst behavior you are willing to tolerate. When you let a high performer get away with prideful or deceptive behavior, you send a clear message to your entire organization that character doesn't really matter. And over time, that one decision will drive out your most principled people. So With all of these pitfalls, how does a leader actually protect themselves? Well, that brings us to our final theme, the systems and the guardrails that are absolutely essential for sustaining integrity over a lifetime of leadership. Let's completely reframe how we think about accountability. It's not a punishment, right? It's not a limitation. It's protection. Think of it like guardrails on a winding mountain road. Those guardrails don't restrict your freedom. They preserve it by preventing you from driving off a cliff. Healthy leaders don't just tolerate correction, they actively welcome it. And this leads to a really direct question for every single one of you listening. Who in your life has explicit permission to tell you you're wrong, to challenge your assumptions? And this is critical. Do they actually know they have that permission? The leaders who grow the fastest are always the most coachable. The final lesson here is all about the nature of integrity itself. It's not this switch you can just flip on for public meetings and then turn off in private. It's cumulative. Every private choice, every small compromise weighed when no one is watching, it all adds up. And eventually, those private choices have very, very public consequences. Wow, this quote just perfectly captures the point. Your credibility isn't earned during the big presentation. It's forged in the thousand small, unseen decisions you make every single day. The source's advice here is profound: don't just try to manage temptation—flee from it. Proactively design your life and your environment to eliminate unnecessary risks before they even have a chance to test you. Okay, so after digging into all of these lessons, what's the one big idea we should really walk away with? Well, it all comes down to cultivating a prevention mindset. The wisest, most effective, and most enduring leadership isn't always the loudest or the most visible. It's about the quiet, disciplined, preventative choices made in private that build and sustain the credibility you need to lead effectively in public. So let's just summarize it like this. A wise leader, they manage risk before it becomes a crisis. They guard trust like it's their most valuable asset. They build systems to protect their integrity, and they choose discipline on their own terms long before consequences arrive and force the lesson on them. And that leaves us with one final and honestly the most important question. This isn't just about listening. It's about doing. Looking at your own leadership, your own habits, and your own team, what is the one disciplined preventative action you will commit to taking this week? Thanks for watching.

Welcome to the podcast. Today we're diving into ancient wisdom from Proverbs chapter 6 and how it informs modern leadership.

I'm excited. This topic really blends timeless insights with today's realities. What really grabs your attention, um, right off the bat?

Well, the main idea is that leadership failures rarely happen from one big mistake, but rather from a series of small compromises, delayed decisions, and unchecked behaviors that slowly turn into the new normal.

Mm-hmm. Yes, it's like those tiny drops of water that eventually wear away stone, right?

Exactly. And Proverbs 6 warns us that authority and trust can erode quietly. It emphasizes that reckless commitments, like co-signing obligations or pledging loyalty without clarity, can sabotage leadership before we even see the crisis emerging. Right.

So, you're saying that even well-intentioned decisions can be dangerous if they're not backed by careful judgment?

Yes, absolutely. Leaders can unintentionally surrender their freedom by saying yes to too many things without clear authority or proper risk control. It's like, um, overcommitting in a way that you're trapped by bad promises.

Mm-hmm, that definitely makes sense. And I suppose that ties into building proper governance structures, doesn't it?

Right. Governance is key. The lesson is to guard your authority and commitments fiercely. If you're in a situation where you realize you're caught in a bad deal, act fast. Imagine needing to run like a gazelle escaping a hunter. No time for hesitation.

I love that image, it's so vivid. But help me understand, how does this concept of quick action fit into broader leadership systems?

Well, that leads us into the next lesson: Discipline Beats Talent. It's really about working like the ant—quiet, consistent, and preparing well in advance. Talent might create opportunities, but discipline sustains success, whether you're in military command or running a tech startup.

So it's basically saying that consistent systems and habits are way more important than just relying on raw talent, right?

Exactly. It's like, um, you know, talent might bring the spark, but discipline is the fuel that keeps the fire burning over time. Leaders should build systems that work even when they aren't in the room.

Mhm, I totally see that. I mean, without a strong system in place, even the best can crumble when pressure mounts.

Spot on. And then there's the subtle danger of complacency, a leadership choice, really. Proverbs warns that complacency creeps in under the guise of comfort. It's a whisper saying, "Just one delay," which can slowly lead to a dangerous drift.

That drift is so insidious, isn't it? It sounds like the difference between healthy rest and a decline into lethargy.

Yes. Exactly. It's about actively choosing growth over stasis. Leaders need to replace complacency with indicators of progress and regularly assess if those little lapses are turning into habits.

Mm-hmm. It's a call for perpetual vigilance, almost like checking your pulse frequently to ensure you're still in the game.

Right. Now, the conversation then shifts to character. Proverbs emphatically points out that character failure is a leadership failure. I'll say it again, manipulation, deception, and hidden agendas can shatter trust faster than any incompetence ever could.

Yeah, but don't some people argue that results sometimes justify questionable means? How do we reconcile that?

That's a great point, but here's where I respectfully challenge that view. Results might bring short-term gains, but in the long run, Ethical failure compounds. Integrity and trust, once broken, collapse abruptly. Leaders must model transparency and enforce ethical standards consistently.

Mm-hmm, and it's like a double-edged sword. Cutting corners might seem efficient at first, but eventually, it destroys the team's trust. Precisely.

And moving along, another lesson is to know what destroys trust. Proverbs identifies pride, deception, injustice, and discord as behaviors that poison organizational culture. When toxic behavior is tolerated, it undermines everything. Right.

I find that really intriguing. Are these traits common in high-pressure industries? Absolutely.

They often appear in environments where performance is prized above all else, like in tech startups or even military operations. Leaders need to audit behaviors regularly, confront pride early, and measure success not just by output but also by the unity within the team.

Mm-hmm. It's a call to build a culture that doesn't just chase numbers but values principled conduct.

Exactly. Then we reach a crucial insight. Accountability is a gift. It's about not fearing correction, but rather embracing it. Think of accountability as the guardrails on a mountain road. It might feel restrictive, but it actually prevents you from crashing.

Yep, that analogy really drives it home. It's like you willingly step into an environment where feedback is not seen as a threat, but rather a tool for growth.

Yes, and normalizing coaching, constructive dissent, and honest feedback strengthens leadership in both military and corporate scenarios. It protects the integrity of decision-making. Mm-hmm.

And it ensures that leaders remain, you know, vulnerable enough to grow.

Exactly. And finally, Proverbs warns that private compromise has public consequences. In other words, what leaders do in private sets the tone for their entire legacy. Integrity should never be situational. It's cumulative, like building a reputation brick by brick.

Right. So even a small ethical slip behind closed doors can erode credibility and affect, um, entire organizations.

Indeed. This lesson stresses that moral clarity is non-negotiable. You need to establish ethical boundaries and avoid the temptation to compromise, because once public trust is lost, it's incredibly hard to rebuild.

Mm-hmm. And that's why prevention in leadership is as important as inspiration.

Exactly. The underlying philosophy from Proverbs 6 is that great leadership is about managing risk before a crisis, preserving trust, and building consistent systems that work unsupervised.

Yes. It really paints leadership as a proactive discipline, a sort of continuous workout regimen for the mind and the team.

Mm-hmm. It's like, um, the difference between reacting in emergency mode and methodically preparing long before the storm hits.

I can see how that applies across different fields, from military chains of command to modern cybersecurity leadership. Absolutely.

And think of it like this: proactive leadership means regularly asking, "What small issue could become a big problem tomorrow?" Regular reflection is key. Leaders must constantly ask themselves, where might commitments be creeping in? Where has discipline slipped? And how can character remain unblemished? Mm-hmm.

It's like maintaining a balanced ecosystem. Every part has to work seamlessly to keep the whole system healthy. Right on point.

Proverbs 6 isn't about imposing rules. It's about cultivating wisdom and fostering a culture where every decision is weighed against long-term impact.

Yep, I think the most challenging part is, honestly, for leaders to be honest with themselves, recognizing those gradual, seemingly insignificant compromises before they escalate.

Exactly. Self-reflection and accountability are paramount. These lessons remind us that leadership credibility is built in private and tested publicly. It's a great reminder for us all to check our own actions regularly, Ensuring we never let effective risk management slip into complacency. Mm-hmm.

And it makes you wonder, what one disciplined action would you say is critical for any leader to implement immediately?

I'd say it's about establishing clear accountability measures that prevent you from being too comfortable. A leader might set a routine self-assessment process, ensuring that any compromise doesn't start as a whisper. It's like setting up early warning systems.

I agree. It's both humbling and empowering. It really challenges us to lead with integrity in every facet of our lives. Absolutely.

And while these lessons come from an ancient text, their applications are strikingly modern. They speak to universal truths about risk, discipline, and accountability, whether you're in a boardroom or on a battlefield.

Mm, this discussion really shows how age-old wisdom can help modern leaders navigate our complex, high-stakes world, right?

Right. It's about preventing harm long before the crisis hits, by guarding authority, championing discipline, and never compromising character. These are the pillars that sustain true leadership over time.

Mm-hmm, and that's a powerful takeaway. I think every leader listening could reflect on these points. And consider where small decisions might be piling up. Exactly.

So, as we wrap up, let's pose a question to all the leaders out there. Which leadership lesson from Proverbs 6 challenges you the most, and what discerning action can you take today to fortify your own systems? Right. Thanks for this deep dive.

It's been insightful to see how ancient wisdom remains incredibly relevant to modern leadership challenges. Absolutely.

Until next time, keep questioning, keep growing, and lead with unwavering integrity.

Thanks for tuning in, everyone. Stay disciplined and keep that—

Okay, lesson number 6. Accountability is a gift. So we're going to read Proverbs 6:20, 21, 22, and 23. Accountability is a gift.

My son, Keep your father's command and do not forsake the law of your mother. Bind them continually upon your heart, tie them around your neck. When you roam, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will keep you. And when you awake, they will speak with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the law a light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life.

Reproof of instruction are the way of life.

Wow.

So healthy leaders, they welcome instruction, correction, and boundaries, always open for feedback. Accountability doesn't limit leadership, it really protects it. It's like the guardrail to keep you protected and doing what you are meant to do. So application. So build personal and professional accountability structure. Encourage dissent and constructive feedback, even from people who don't like you, because in all of the dirt that comes out of their mouth, there might be a nugget of gold which could make the difference. And many times, a few people throughout my life, for whatever reason, they didn't like me and they would just criticize me. They thought they were hurting me, but actually, by their criticism, they helped me get better because I'm like, yeah, this one thing that they said is valid, everything else is a bunch of nonsense. But we have no control on the weather, maybe no control on the economy or politics or a lot of things we— that's just above our control. But there are some things we can control: the way we think and what we do, how we respond to what happens to us. So those things we definitely can control, those And we need to control what we can in order to maximize the opportunity and the probability of us realizing our goals and living out our vision and our purpose. That's completely up to us. So integrity is non-negotiable. Manipulation, deception, and hidden agendas destroy trust faster than incompetence, but leaders who operate with divided hearts Fracture teams. So the application: establish clear ethical standards and enforce them consistently. Consistency, I think, is really the key here for wisdom, for success. You have to be consistent, not just once in a blue moon, but day after day, week after week, month after month. Consistency. So address toxic behavior immediately, regardless of rank. When it happens, you need to address it right away. And then model transparency, especially when it costs you. All right. Easier said than done, but, uh, that's wisdom. That's leadership. So where might my action contradict my stated—

Thank you for tuning in to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach BZ. If today's episode added value to your leadership journey, be sure to subscribe, share, and join us again for more wisdom nuggets on how to lead better and achieve greater. Greater success. Remember, leadership is the most critical skill of our time. The world will always need leaders to inspire others, drive innovation, and execute meaningful strategy. So why not count yourself among the bold leaders shaping the 21st century? Until next time, stay inspired, stay committed, and keep leading with excellence.