S4:E23 🎙️LIVE: Mastering Leadership: Decide, Delegate, Disappear

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.

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Hello everyone, this is Coach Bizzy. Thank you so much for joining in today. Today is on July 3rd, so thank you so much for being here. Today we are going to be talking about one of the articles I wrote. Let me share my screen really quick. This one here, really the idea come from a legendary admiral. I'm going to be talking about mastering leadership: decide, delegate, and disappear, right? The 3D of leadership. And the idea came to me from Admiral William Lawrence, extraordinary man, uh, he's really a legend in the Navy. He used to be a prisoner of war, and I highly recommend that you purchase the book Tennessee Patriots available on Amazon. But today we are going to be really talking about, uh, decisions, right? What it means to decide boldly using the General Colin Powell's 47-year-old, another one of my heroes. And then how to delegate wisely without micromanaging. And finally, why great leaders must disappear at the right time to empower others. So that's what we're going to be talking about today, and I'm going to have Mary and Joe AI break it down for me. So I'll be back in about 30 minutes or so. In the meantime, let me know where you are joining us from— what city, state, country. And also, if you have any question for me, type it in the comment section, and I'll be back in about 30 minutes to answer those. And also, please like the, uh, the post and, uh, comment, and then also tag somebody you believe might be impacted or benefit from this podcast. As always, thank you so much. And Mary and Joe, you guys are next.

Okay, let's unpack this. Have you ever felt that relentless pressure? You know, a critical decision looming, and inaction feels just as risky as making the wrong move?

Hmm, yeah, that's a familiar feeling for anyone in charge of something.

Or maybe you found yourself caught in that classic leadership trap. You're micromanaging every little detail, even though, you know, deep down you should be empowering your team.

Right. The urge to control versus the need to trust. It's a constant tension.

Exactly. And these aren't just like isolated incidents. They're universal leadership challenges. You see them everywhere. High-stakes military ops, the fast-paced tech world, innovation hubs.

Pretty much anywhere decisions matter and teams need to function.

So today we're doing a deep dive into mastering leadership in exactly this kind of demanding, complex world.

Sounds good. It's a topic that never gets old.

Our main source material for this is just fantastic, an incredibly insightful article by Bob Fabien Zinga. Now, he's got this really unique background.

Yeah, he's a cybersecurity executive and a US Navy information warfare commander. That's quite the combo.

It really is.

Yeah.

And what makes his perspective so powerful is how he draws these deep leadership lessons from blending that military command experience with his time navigating, you know, the intensity of Silicon Valley.

That blend is fascinating, seeing how principles from one world apply or maybe even clash with the other.

And at the core of it all is this foundational framework from Admiral William P. Lawrence. It's called the 3D Leadership Principle: Decide, Delegate, Disappear.

Decide, Delegate, Disappear. Catchy, but sounds like there's real substance there.

Oh, absolutely. And our mission today for this deep dive is to really dig into to the core wisdom of that principle. We want to understand not just what each D means, but critically, when do you act decisively, right?

The tone.

Whom do you empower? Who gets that trust and autonomy?

The delegation piece.

And then how do you actually step back effectively, let your team run with it, but still maintain accountability and really foster team excellence?

Okay, so it's about the practical application, not just the theory.

Exactly. It promises to be a journey that might challenge some assumptions about leadership.

Well, what's truly fascinating here, and Zinga nails this, is how these timeless leadership principles, often forged, you know, in the heat of military command, under fire, how they translate almost seamlessly into the tech world and really beyond tech too.

That translation is key, isn't it? Because the environments seem so different on the surface.

They do. But this isn't just abstract theory. It's not some academic concept that looks good on paper but falls apart when things get real. This is practical, actionable wisdom.

Hard-won experience.

Exactly. Hard-won experience distilled into a framework anyone leading a team can use. It doesn't matter the size of the team or the industry.

So the relevance for you listening right now is pretty immediate.

Definitely. These aren't just concepts for admirals or, you know, big-shot CEOs. These are concrete principles you can apply to your daily challenges.

Managing a project team, running a department.

Or even just influencing a group of peers on a critical task. And Zinga's perspective, having been on the bridge of a Navy destroyer and in the server room of a tech company, that gives us this rare, really valuable insight into how universal these leadership truths are.

Absolutely. And to really get the full weight of the 3 Ds, we kind of need to understand the person behind it first. Admiral William P. Lawrence.

Right. The originator. His story sounds pretty incredible.

It really is. This principle wasn't just thought up in an office. It was forged through an extraordinary life. We're talking distinguished service, incredible resilience, unwavering dedication.

Okay, tell us more.

Well, he was a Nashville native, graduated 8th, 8th in his class from the Naval Academy back in '51, which is just— wow.

That's seriously impressive. Top tier.

And while he was there, he wasn't just hitting the books or excelling athletically, which he did. He played a key role in establishing the Brigade Honor concept.

Ah, so laying down ethical foundations early on. That says a lot.

It does. It shaped generations of officers. But his achievements didn't stop there. Not even close.

Yeah.

As an elite test pilot, get this.

Okay.

He was the first naval aviator to fly twice the speed of sound in a Navy aircraft. Mach 2.

Whoa. Okay, that takes serious guts and skill. Pushing the absolute limits back then.

Imagine the courage, the precision.

Yeah.

And his skill, his coolness under pressure. It was so obvious that he was actually a finalist for NASA's Project Mercury.

No way. A potential astronaut.

Yeah. He just narrowly missed being one of the first Americans in space. That's the caliber of person we're talking about.

His whole story really seems to embody the principles he came up with later.

It feels like it.

If you connect that back, his experiences directly shaped that decide, delegate, disappear framework. You can see it, right?

Mm-hmm.

Deciding boldly like a test pilot, delegating wisely like a commander, and then stepping back, providing cover, not control.

Yeah, that makes sense. And his ultimate test, the real crucible, came during the Vietnam War. He was commanding Fighter Squadron 143, got shot down, and then endured nearly 6 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

6 years! Just— unimaginable, the resilience required.

Not just to survive, but to lead. He provided steadfast leadership to fellow captives, often inspiring them even while he was in solitary confinement.

Wow, leading under those conditions.

And it was during that incredibly harsh time drawing on his inner strength, that he actually composed the poem "Oh Tennessee, My Tennessee." Which became the official state poem, right?

That's amazing.

It is. And his legacy lives on too, with the commissioning of the USS William P. Lawrence, a destroyer named in his honor.

A living testament. So, he didn't just theorize about leadership; he lived it in the most extreme circumstances.

Exactly. And Zinga, with his dual background, draws directly from those lessons, translating that wisdom from the bridge and the server room for us today.

Making it relevant now.

Which brings us right to the first D. This is where it gets really compelling. Now that we know the man behind the idea, mm-hmm, let's dive into Decide Decisively.

Okay.

The first step sounds straightforward, but often isn't.

Right. Because in combat or in coding, speed and accuracy are everything. They're paramount. But the enemy isn't always obvious. Sometimes it's internal. It's that paralysis by analysis.

Ah, yes. The waiting game, trying to get all the information before moving.

That dangerous trap of waiting for 100% certainty. It hits leaders everywhere— military, startups, you name it.

It's a very human tendency, wanting that certainty.

Zinga shares this powerful story that really brings it home. He talks about a tense late-night exercise on a Navy destroyer.

Yeah?

Ship sensors pick up something ambiguous, an unidentified threat. Could be a glitch, could be— Something hostile.

High stakes, lots of uncertainty.

Exactly. And the young shipmate on watch, facing this critical moment, they could've wasted precious minutes, maybe hours, digging through every log, trying to be absolutely sure, risking the whole fleet to that paralysis by analysis.

But they didn't, I'm guessing.

They didn't. They remembered and applied General Colin Powell's 40/70 Rule. Which brings us to the key question, right? How do you act effectively when the info is incomplete, time is ticking, and that need for certainty is just screaming at you?

Yeah, what are the common traps leaders fall into there? Because it happens all the time.

It really does.

Well, it's a classic scenario, and the traps are definitely numerous. A lot of leaders, often driven by a good intention, wanting perfection, or just terrified of making the wrong call, they get stuck. Analysis paralysis.

Seen it happen.

They delay, they ask for more data, they try to get everyone to agree, all while the window, that critical moment, is just slamming shut.

Opportunity lost.

Or worse.

Exactly. And this is where Powell's 40/70 rule is so practical, so clear. The guideline is gather between 40% and 70% of the information you think you need, then decide.

40 to 70%.

Okay.

Less than 40%, you're basically guessing. It's reckless.

Mm-hmm.

But waiting for more than 70%, Powell argued that risks mission failure because you waited too long.

The delay itself becomes the failure.

Yep.

Precisely. Delay can be just as catastrophic as a bad decision. Think about that shipmate on the destroyer.

Right.

The ambiguous threat.

They didn't have all the answers, didn't know exactly what it was, but they were in that 40/70 zone. They trusted their training, their gut, the intel they did have, which was enough.

And they acted.

They acted decisively. And it worked. They defended the fleet. The core lesson here, and Zinga really hammers this home, is liberating. Your team needs a decisive leader. Not a perfect one.

Ooh, say that again. That's powerful.

Your team needs a decisive leader, not a perfect one. Perfection's an illusion, especially when things are moving fast. Trying to be perfect often becomes the enemy of just getting good timely action done.

Okay, so how do we translate that? How can you listening apply this, make it practical in your world, whether it's a boardroom or a project meeting?

Right. Let's break it down first, and this is fundamental. Use the 40/70 Rule as your guide. Seriously, it's not just for the Navy.

So like a project launch.

Yeah, perfect example. You've got stakeholder feedback, market research, maybe some initial designs. Do you wait for every single user test result, every competitor's next tweet? No.

Or crisis hits, initial reports are coming in, maybe some eyewitness stuff, but it's hazy.

Exactly. The 40/70 rule says gather enough data to get the shape of it, understand the main variables, the likely outcomes, But then act. Don't wait forever for that perfect picture that might never come.

Okay, that makes sense. What else?

Second, set firm decision deadlines. This is a huge weapon against procrastination.

Deadlines force action.

They do. They force you to synthesize what you have and make a call. Zinga mentions, if you haven't decided by the time you have 70% of the info, sometimes it's better to just pick an option by 100% of the time you have available.

Because if you don't decide—

Someone else might decide for you Or worse, the opportunity just vanishes. The deadline pressure sharpens your focus.

Right. Number 3.

Third, ask for counsel, but keep it tight. This isn't about delaying by committee. It's about brief, focused checks with your core team, key stakeholders, trusted mentors.

Get quick input, sanity checks.

Exactly. Leverage their wisdom fast. Fill in gaps, test your assumptions. But avoid endless meetings seeking universal approval. It's about rapid intel, not group indecision.

Good distinction.

And lastly.

And finally, count the cost, but then commit. Analyze the key factors, sure. Understand the upsides, the downsides, the risks, the resources needed. That analysis is vital.

But don't get stuck there.

Don't overthink it. Once you've reasonably scanned the landscape, having a clear mission, knowing why you're doing this, what outcome you need, that cuts through a lot of hesitation. The why focuses the what and how.

Makes the decision easier, or at least clearer.

Absolutely. So ask yourself, when was the last time you delayed a decision waiting for just one more piece of data? Could you have acted effectively on, say, 50% of the info?

Hmm. Are you stuck in analysis paralysis? And what's the cost of that delay? Answering those questions honestly, that's the first big step towards moving from inertia to decisive action, becoming that effective leader your team needs.

That's a really practical set of steps. Okay, so the decision's made. Boldly, hopefully within that 40/70 window.

Yeah.

Now comes the next big test, right?

Yeah.

Letting go. Delegating.

Ah, yes.

The second E, delegate to empower.

This is where so many of us trip up, especially early on or when you first step into leadership. That instinct is strong. I'll just do it myself or hover over everything.

We tell ourselves it's about quality control or thoroughness.

But Zinga puts it so bluntly. You can't win a war or ship a product solo.

Yeah.

That just hits home, doesn't it?

It really does. Think about the potential you're leaving untapped, your own strategic bandwidth, and your team's growth.

Which is where effective delegation comes in. It's not just offloading tasks; he calls it a force multiplier.

Exactly. It frees you up strategically, lets you focus on the bigger picture, and it develops your people's skills and confidence. It's a win-win.

He shares a personal story about this, doesn't he? Struggling with it himself.

Yeah, it's very relatable. When he was a lieutenant commander managing a small cyber team, he assigned one of his best sailors to build this complex spreadsheet, macros, formulas, automating after-action reports. Critical tool.

Okay, it's on board.

But his old habits kicked in. He admits he pored over his code with high frequency, basically micromanaged every line.

Uh-oh.

I can see where this is going.

Right. And what happened? The code broke. Strange bugs popped up that even he didn't catch initially. His micromanaging didn't just slow things down.

It killed trust, created friction, stifled the sailor's initiative.

Precisely. It's such a common pitfall. How did he break that habit? That's the interesting part.

Yeah. How did he shift?

Well, it wasn't overnight. It was conscious effort. Learning from painful moments like that one, he realized there was a better way. After briefing the sailor clearly on the goal, giving him the resources, the context, He then deliberately, consciously stepped back, let the sailor own it.

Ah, the letting go.

This is where that Brian Tracy quote comes in again. Trust is the base of leadership and delegation is the proof of your trust.

So Zinga proved his trust by stepping back.

Exactly. He handed over not just the task, but the responsibility for success. He created space for the sailor's own ideas, for mistakes, which are learning opportunities, and for that crucial self-directed learning.

And the result?

Huge payoff. They built a smarter, better system faster than if he'd kept hovering. And maybe more importantly, that sailor, feeling trusted, blossomed, became more confident, more proactive, a future leader.

That's powerful. And research backs this up, right? Giving people meaningful work, autonomy.

Absolutely. Research consistently shows delegation works best when teams get meaningful work, responsibility, autonomy, and challenge. Zinga's experience mirrors that perfectly. He shifted from ticking checklist items himself to setting clear, compelling goals and empowering his people to find their own way there.

Now, he says it wasn't easy. Swallowing ego, resisting that urge to jump back in.

He stresses that point. It takes real discipline, enduring the discomfort of not controlling every detail. But the payoff was massive. His team took real ownership, performance soared, and he got freed up for strategy, for mentoring, for tackling the bigger problems.

It's that realization, isn't it? No matter how good you are, you can't carry a team.

You just can't. A leader's job fundamentally is building that support network. Zinga found, whether on a ship or in a data center, that pairing juniors with seniors, cross-training people, sharing authority, that prevents burnout and sparks innovation. It builds depth.

Okay, so let's distill some best practices.

Mm-hmm.

How do you delegate effectively beyond just the idea?

Good question. Let's get practical. First, be crystal clear and commit to coaching. Don't just dump a task. Clearly explain the goal, why it matters in the big picture. Then equip them training, resources, context, set them up for success autonomously.

Not spoon-feeding, but enabling. Got it.

Second, delegate the whole task, not just bits and pieces. Let someone own an outcome end to end, even if you're there for guidance. That fosters way deeper ownership and accountability.

Makes sense. They feel responsible for the whole thing.

Third, match tasks to strengths strategically. This isn't personal favoritism. It's like putting people in the right seats on the bus, that famous analogy. If someone's assignment doesn't play to their talents, seriously think about swapping roles for maximum impact.

And once they're in the right seat—

You must trust them. If they're competent, qualified, trust them to do the job well. That trust follows putting the right person in the right role.

OK, fourth point.

Fourth, encourage true autonomy. Once you delegate, step aside. Let them explore solutions, experiment, even make small course corrections. Your role shifts. You intervene only when absolutely necessary, mainly to clear roadblocks, not to control their process.

Become a resource, not a micromanager.

Exactly. And finally, number 5, celebrate learning, both success and struggle. When they nail it, praise them publicly, enthusiastically, make sure everyone knows their contribution.

And when they stumble, because that happens.

It does. And when it does, coach them privately. With empathy. Focus on the learning, not the blame. The goal is always growth, resilience, not some mythical perfection.

That's a great framework. So challenge back to the listener.

Yeah, think about it. What projects or decisions are you holding on to too tightly right now? Maybe out of habit, maybe fear. Who on your team is capable, ready to grow if you just gave them that trust, that autonomy?

By stepping back, you help others step up. That's the essence of it.

You cultivate a more capable, more resilient, more empowered team.

That point about stepping back, about disappearing.

Yeah.

It's fascinating, especially in high-stakes work. But I can almost hear some listeners thinking maybe leaders who are more hands-on, doesn't that create a vacuum? How do you make sure the team stays on track, doesn't just drift?

That's a really common and valid concern. It gets right to the subtlety of the third D, disappear to serve.

Disappear to serve. Okay.

It absolutely does not mean vanishing. It's not washing your hands of the outcome. Not at all. Naunga explains it as empowering by not overshadowing.

Not casting a shadow, he says somewhere.

Right. He pictures it like providing top cover in battle. You're strategically present if needed, ready with resources, ready to remove obstacles, but you consciously let them engage the objective directly.

So it's an active kind of disappearing.

Very active, but behind the scenes. He shares how early on he used to literally hover, checking every email he assigned, every data point. But he saw it just screamed distrust, killed initiative.

So he forced himself to change.

He forced himself to physically or figuratively disappear, go to other meetings, silence his phone, or just walk away after a thorough brief, sending that clear signal: I trust you, I'm here if you hit a wall, but this is yours now.

Okay, but here's the core of that earlier question: how do you do that without looking like you're disengaged or shirking responsibility?

Ah, the crucial nuance. And Zinga I'm crystal clear on this. Even as I disappear, I don't delegate away my ultimate accountability.

That's the key. The leader still owns the outcome.

Absolutely. When you assign that mission, that project, you, the leader, own the result—success or failure. He says that truth kept him incredibly humble.

He admits he failed forward plenty of times.

And when things went wrong, he never played the blame game, never pointed fingers. Andrew Carnegie said it right: No one will make a great business who wants to do it all themselves or take all the credit.

So pass the credit for wins.

And own the failures completely. Take full responsibility. He talks about being in his CO's office when an operation faltered. He never shirked. And because of that, his team felt safe. They felt loyalty. Knowing their leader had their back no matter what.

That breeds incredible loyalty and performance.

It really does in the long run. Zinga stresses that a leader should shepherd their team, not lord over them. His words: "Serve willingly, not grudgingly, and always lead by example." That servant heart allows you to disappear effectively. Exactly. As he got more senior, his mission shifted. Less about doing tasks, more about serving the growth of his people. After briefing someone, he'd make a point of getting out of their immediate sight, consciously avoiding casting that shadow over their initiative. It reinforced trust.

OK, so let's nail down some key insights for this disappearing to serve. How do you practice it?

Right, the practical side. First, stay engaged but never intrusive. Be available for guidance, mentoring, clearing roadblocks, but don't hijack their process. Don't micromanage. Zinga says if his team needed him, they called him, not the other way around. He was a resource, not a hawk.

Be available, not hovering.

Got it. Second, provide strategic top cover. This is huge. Protect your people from external pressures, office politics, those scary above-my-pay-grade problems that kill focus and morale. Shield them so they can do the work. Yes. Zinga explicitly says he often absorbed the blame or pressure from higher-ups, created a shield for his crew so they could focus on the mission without fear. That builds immense trust. Makes sense. Third. Third, be the unequivocal owner of outcomes. Never ever pass the buck on accountability. Success or failure, it lands on your shoulders. Zinga always told his team, "My rank doesn't mean I did all the work, but it absolutely means I accept the win or the loss." Win together, lose alone as the leader. Pretty much. When they win, share the credit widely. If they lose, you take all the blame.

No caveats. Okay. And the last insight?

Finally, give credit away publicly and generously. Praise your people out loud with genuine enthusiasm. Zinga puts it nicely in tech terms: "A good leader's name is on the project, but your name is on the team's trophy." I like that.

Public praise motivates more than bonuses sometimes.

Often does. It builds morale, pride, inspires more excellence. It shows you see and value their contribution.

There's that powerful quote you mentioned from Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire about servant leadership.

Oh yeah, it's incredibly vivid. It captures this perfectly, describing the king at Thermopylae. A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. Mm-hmm. A king does not command his men's loyalty through fear. He earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake. A king does not require service of those he leads, but provides it to them.

Wow. That's the essence of disappearing to serve.

It really is. So the question for you listening is, do you trust your team enough to let them lead in your absence? Can you step back and be their advocate, their shield, not their micromanager? And if that feels hard— Start small. Practice disappearing from minor tasks. Build that confidence muscle in yourself and in your team. It's really the only way others learn to lead effectively.

That idea of leading by example, earning trust through action. It really leads to the next point, doesn't it?

Personal growth. Yeah. How do you actually develop this kind of leadership? Right.

So what does this all mean for your journey? It's clear leadership isn't cooked up in isolation. Zinga really emphasizes how he was mentored by so many giants throughout his career, Navy and Silicon Valley. He actively sought out wisdom. He did. And he consciously wove their insights, their examples into his own style, which highlights a huge truth. Continuous learning, drawing from diverse perspectives. It's not just nice to have. It's essential for any leader who wants to grow and have real impact.

You can't just rely on your own experience forever.

It's exactly. He mentioned several key mentors, each adding a distinct piece to his leadership puzzle. Let's dive into some of them. What were their core teachings? How did he actually apply them? Yeah.

What's really striking is the sheer breadth of wisdom he pulled from. It's not one narrow ideology. It's a rich mix from different fields, all pointing towards universal principles of effectiveness and, you know, human interaction. —like Dr.

John C. Maxwell. Right.

From Maxwell, he absorbed that fundamental idea: leadership is not about titles or positions; it's about one life influencing another.

That changes how you see every interaction.

Totally. He realized every chat with a junior sailor, every design review with an engineer, was a chance to inspire, connect, empower. He says it made him listen more, be more present, look for ways to add value to people, not just direct tasks.

And Zig Ziglar. The motivational speaker.

Yeah, from Ziglar, it was that simple but powerful mantra, "Attitude is everything." This became huge for Zinga, especially during tough times, long deployments, exhausting watches.

Maintaining morale when things are grim. Exactly!

He learned that the leader's positive, resilient attitude, even faking it sometimes, can be a lifeline for a team going through hell. An anchor in the storm.

We talked about Brian Tracy earlier. The trust and delegation quote. Right.

Trust is the base of leadership, and delegation is the proof of your trust. Zinga calls that foundational to the 3 Ds. He remembers struggling to scale a project, trying to oversee too much. Tracy's quote hit him, forced him to choose trust, delegate more, even when it felt risky. And it paid off. Big time. Not just the project succeeded, but the team's capability and morale jumped.

What about people like Jim Rohn and Les Brown?

They reinforce that idea of continuous self-improvement, personal excellence. Their message: success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines practiced every day.

The power of consistency.

Exactly. Zinga applied it by committing to daily practices—checking in, seeking feedback, dedicating time to learn. Understanding those small, consistent habits compound into exceptional leadership over time.

Darren Hardy's Compound Effect. Builds on that, right? Small habits, big results.

Yeah. Hardy drove home how tiny daily leadership habits— listening more, appreciating more, demanding less, empowering more— how they compound into an amazing team culture. Not grand gestures, but consistent positive microbehaviors.

Tony Robbins, he's usually about big action. And that's what Zinga took.

Take massive, determined action. A vital reminder that after deciding, you gotta execute relentlessly. Overcome that inertia.

Robin Sharma, "Your 'I will' is more important than your IQ." That one resonated during crises.

Zinga saw that sheer determination, grit, that indomitable will to succeed could often trump raw intelligence when things got really tough. Ingenuity born of perseverance. Jack Canfield, about fear. Canfield's "Everything You Want Is on the Other Side of Fear" inspired Zinga to actively mentor risky entrepreneurs. Risk-taking. He'd give junior officers or engineers challenging problems—landmines, he called them—with real stakes. Trial by fire, but supported. Exactly. Each time they faced that fear and overcame it, it chipped away at fear's power and built their confidence, their problem-solving skills. Lastly, Dennis Whateley: "Expect the best, plan for the worst." And prepare to be surprised. That became Zinga's mental mantra before every deployment, every major system upgrade, every product launch. It fosters preparedness, adaptability, Foresight, being ready for anything. So pulling all that together, right?

What are the big takeaways from all these mentors?

Zinga boils it down nicely. First, always be learning, always be reading. Draw wisdom from everywhere. Second, surround yourself with trusted peers and mentors who'll tell you the truth, even the hard truth. Honest feedback loops. Crucial. Third, hold yourself to the absolute highest ethical standards. No compromise. And maybe most critically, remember your character as a leader. Integrity, humility, compassion is just as vital, maybe more so than your competence.

Character over competence, or at least equal to it.

That collective wisdom internalized and applied is what shapes a truly impactful, resilient leader.

That's a really rich tapestry of influences. Okay, here's where it gets super interesting, especially for listeners working in different fields. Naval officers, tech leaders, they seem worlds apart, right? Yeah. Different jargon, different environments, different cultures. On the surface, absolutely. Uniforms versus hoodies. Right. But the core leadership principles that actually drive success, they overlap in really surprising, profound ways. Both worlds grapple with intense uncertainty, rapid change, high stakes.

The context differs, but the human dynamics of leadership are similar. Think about the military's commander's intent.

Defining the what and why, but leaving the how to the teams on the ground. That sounds a lot like tech's agile autonomy, doesn't it?

It really does. Empowered teams, clear goals, freedom to adapt and innovate to reach the objective. Both cultures intuitively get the power of clarity and trust.

And Zinga's career is like a perfect case study of this bridging.

Absolutely. His experience shows how a battlefield mindset can shake up a tech startup for the better and how agile methods can streamline military ops. It's that cross-pollination.

He tells a story about a startup, right? The move fast, break things paradox.

Yeah, it's a classic. Startup preaches move fast, break things, but then wants to vet every single tiny code change. Creates this huge bottleneck, kills the very speed they want.

So Zinga suggested—

A battlefield mindset. Stop micromanaging the code. Define the mission clearly. Increase system uptime by 20% this quarter. Then empower the engineers, let them figure out the tactics, move fast within that clear goal. And it worked better. Consistently outperformed the old way. Faster, more robust results. That blend of clarity and delegation.

And it goes the other way too. Military learning from tech.

Definitely. Naval officers, often used to hierarchy, can learn tons from Silicon Valley's feedback loops, iteration, the Navy's after-action reviews. They're basically agile retrospectives. Learn, adapt, improve quickly.

He even brought tech practices onto the ship.

We did! Implemented tech standups on deck. Short, daily syncs like startup scrums to share intel, coordinate cyber defenses, massively improve responsiveness compared to formal channels.

Several big ones. First, communication. Absolutely vital. Clear, concise, timely updates. Whether it's a ship's combat center making split-second decisions or a tech war room handling an outage, investing time daily to align the team is non-negotiable.

Everyone on the same page. Trust. Bedrock stuff. Whether it's sonar techs or security analysts, you have to trust their expertise. Train them well, equip them, then let them execute. Trust unlocks initiative. Makes sense. Third? Third, accountability. Flows from the top. Leaders own outcomes. Teams thrive under leaders who own wins and losses. They check out fast if the leader plays the blame game.

Creates that psychological safety. Exactly. And fourth?

Inspiration—it's universal. Sharing the why, connecting the work to a purpose, whether it's defending the nation or changing the world with—Tarpis fuels dedication.

He also touches on respect, right?

How it works differently. Yeah, nuances there. Military—inherent respect for the uniform, shared sacrifice. Tech—respect often earned more through expertise, contribution. But, he notes, a simple genuine thank you or public praise. Powerful in both worlds.

And bringing military rigor to tech, that worked?

Surprisingly well sometimes. Things like punctuality, checklists for complex stuff, solid contingency planning initially maybe raised eyebrows in tech teams, but ultimately improved performance and reliability.

So the challenge is to see the parallels, blend the best of both. Right.

Ask yourself, how can you blend these? Can military concepts like mission-type orders clarify your tech project? Can tech tools like Agile or collaboration platforms streamline your non-tech operations? The answers are often in seeing those surprising connections.

Okay, let's bring this home. What does this all mean for you, our listener, on your leadership path? The 3D principle— decide, delegate, disappear—

it's more than a slogan. It's a roadmap for growth, a practical one.

And Zinga encourages actively practicing it. Pick one D each week, maybe the one that feels most challenging, most uncomfortable.

Lean into the discomfort.

That's where growth happens. So next time you're stuck deciding, try Powell's 40/70 rule. Set a deadline, gather enough info, then make the call.

Trust yourself. Decisive action.

Mentoring someone, starting a project, hand off real responsibility. Define the goal clearly, then step back. Prove your trust through delegation, like Tracy said. Let them own it. And after delegating, Practice consciously disappearing. Let the team run, innovate, while you hold that ultimate accountability, provide that top cover.

Serve by stepping aside. So reflect on this.

Where do you hesitate to let go? And why, really? Who on your team could truly grow, step up, if you just got out of their way a bit more, trusted them more?

Maybe take a few minutes after this, actually write down an action plan. One small step for better decisions, better delegation, better servant leadership.

That's the practical application.

But it raises a deeper question too, doesn't it? Beyond the practicalities, what's the underlying purpose of your leadership? Zinga's source material pushes us there.

Commit your work to something bigger. Build teams with wise advisors. Keep vision aligned with a higher mission.

Exactly. Think about the wisdom in that. Beyond any specific doctrine, Proverbs 15:22. Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors, they succeed. That's about humility, right?

Yep.

Seeking collective wisdom. Strength in diverse perspectives. Or 1 Peter 5: Be shepherds, not because you must, but because you want to, eager to serve. Leading with that servant heart, that genuine desire to uplift.

So it's about integrating that reflective, purposeful approach.

Think on this: great leaders admit they don't have all the answers. They humbly seek wisdom. They're eager to serve. How can you bring more of that into your leadership, letting it shape not just your results but the character of the people you lead? That's a powerful thought to leave with. Zinga's closing words capture the urgency. The challenge is clear. The prize is high. Your crew and your future depends on how you lead today. Wow.

Okay, that's all the time we have for this deep dive into mastering leadership through decide, Delegate, Disappear. We really hope it's given you plenty to think about, maybe challenged you a bit, and spurred you to action.

Hopefully some practical takeaways too. Absolutely.

Until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and most importantly, keep leading.

All right, thank you so much, uh, Drew and Mary. I appreciate that. Uh, let's see if you guys have any question. I'm checking on, uh, LinkedIn. I don't see any. And nothing on YouTube either. So, uh, the biggest learning challenge for me when I became a manager, and I think for most people, usually you are selected to lead other people, to have your own team, when you are the best at what you do. So you, you do what you do extremely well, and then it's like you to manage a team so you can help other people do the same thing. And one big challenge I had the first time I became a manager was really allowing the people who reported to me to actually do the job, because I always felt like I can do it so much better than they can, I can do it faster, more efficiently, so I may as well continue doing it. And that's a big, big, big mistake. You do not lead in order for you to do, right? You lead in order to influence other people so you can teach other people. And even if I make mistakes, that is okay. You need to give them the space so they can learn, make mistakes, and learn from their mistakes and get better. That's really what's going to help the organization. Actually, one of the best, uh, skipper, the best commanding officer I ever had, at one point he actually put the mission of the entire unit at risk by letting junior officers like me really fully on, uh, be responsible for portions, critical portions of the mission. And if we didn't do it well, the mission would fail, and he was okay with that. That always kind of scared me, right? So that, that's why when you delegate, I believe you can delegate the responsibility— somebody else is responsible for the task. However, as a leader, you are always, always accountable. Accountability cannot be delegated. So I would say yes, you need to delegate, but you need to watch for— keep your eye on it and always be available as a resource. Provide coaching. And if your people get into trouble, or they have obstacles and challenges, remove those obstacles from them, and give them the tools, the training, the resources they need in order to be successful. But always, always be present. Because ultimately, you as a leader, you are always, always accountable. Alright, so decide, and I've never had any problem making decisions, even if it's the wrong decision. That's That's okay. It's better to make a decision than not make a decision at all. And if you make the wrong decision, once you get more data, then change the decision, make a better decision. I've had to do it a couple of times. Sometimes you put people in certain position because based on their resume, they look like they are the perfect person for the job. But then once you put them in the position, ah, it doesn't work out. Then based on the data you are receiving, it's time for you to move them to another position and put somebody there who can actually get the job done. That is very, very important as a leader. You can sometimes make make the wrong call, that's okay. Make a call, and then if you realize it's the wrong call, then make a better call, right? Make a better decision. So always decide, like, um, General Colin Powell said, right? 40 to 70%. Usually about 50, 60% of the data I need, I am ready to decide. And then if I'm going the wrong way, that's okay. I just make a change. And something also I learned when I moved to Silicon Valley in 2014, 11 years ago. The Agile process, you go out there, you go ahead and you publish your code, you deploy the code, it might have bugs in it, that's okay. You're going to use your actual consumer as your beta testers. They're going to let you know what's wrong and what doesn't work very well, what's buggy, and then you're going to fix it. That's how they are able to deploy codes every week, or every 2 weeks, always getting that feedback loop, right? Whenever the software goes out, it's not perfect, but in time it becomes better and better and, and better. So I have taken that mindset to the Navy as well, and it has served me very, very well. It's okay to make mistake, but when you do, you need to be humble enough to recognize, okay guys, we've made the wrong call, but now we need to change, and this is the new direction. So decide Delegate, delegate, but always oversee, right? Always be available as a resource because ultimately you're always accountable. And then the last D is to disappear, really empower your people to make those decisions. I think that is so, so important. And another thing my primary IP officer mentor taught me was You are really a great leader when you are able to disappear completely, like go on vacation for a week or 2 weeks or a month, and then come back and know that your people got the con— they are going to take care of everything that needs to be taken care of. Nothing is going to be broken, right? If you are the leader and you leave for a couple of days or a week and everything falls apart, then you are not a good leader. You are frankly an embarrassment, because for you to lead You need to be able to train your people in such a way that they are able to do the job at the same standards that they would if you were present. That is really what makes you a leader. You are accountable and you are making sure that the people who come after you are trained well enough to get the job done at the same exact standard. All right, that's all I'm gonna say about this. I still don't see any question in LinkedIn or YouTube, so until next time. Oh, actually, tomorrow is going to be a very, very, very special day. I am going to have a rematch with AI, with ChatGPT. I interviewed ChatGPT in March of 2023, so over 2 years ago. So a lot of things have changed with ChatGPT since then, and tomorrow is going to be a wonderful, wonderful time to catch up with ChatGPT. If you have any question for ChatGPT, please RSVP in the event on the LinkedIn page. But before we go, I'm going to play one or two clips from the last interview I had with ChatGPT. Let's play a sample from two years ago.

Exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and taking time for relaxation and stress relief Prioritizing your physical and mental health can help you feel more energized, focused, and resilient. Set goals: Having clear and specific goals can provide direction and motivation, and help you track your progress and celebrate your achievements. Make sure your goals are challenging but achievable, and break them down into smaller, actionable steps. Cultivate positive relationships: Surrounding yourself with supportive and positive people can help you build resilience, reduce stress, and feel more connected to Others: Invest time and energy in building and maintaining meaningful relationships with friends, family, and colleagues. Practice gratitude: Taking time to reflect on the good things in your life and express gratitude can have a powerful impact on your mood, attitude, and overall well-being. To be. There are many AI thought leaders who are active on social media and can provide valuable insights and perspectives on the latest developments in the field. Here are a few examples. Andrew Ng, @andrewying, founder of Deep Learning AI and former VP and chief scientist at Baidu. Ng is a leading AI researcher and educator who is known for his work on deep learning and online education. Fei-Fei Li, @DrFeiFei. Co-director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence , Li is a renowned AI researcher who has made significant contributions to computer vision and visual recognition. Gary Marcus, @GaryMarcus. A cognitive scientist and AI researcher, Marcus is known for his work on natural language processing and the limitations of deep learning. Kate Croft.

Thank you for listening to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach BZ. If you like what you heard, please subscribe to our channels and come back for more wisdom nuggets on how you may develop into a better leader and achieve greater levels of success. Leadership is the most critical skill. The world will always need leaders to lead others, deploy the next disruptive technology, or execute a business strategy, you may as well decide on counting yourself among the 21st century leaders. See you right here next time on the Leadership and Success Podcast with Coach BZ.