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The Path of a Leader Writing Series.

A COLLECTION OF LEADERSHIP LESSONS, GROWTH INSIGHTS, AND STORIES
FROM THE TRENCHES OF MY OWN LEADERSHIP JOURNEY.

Leadership isn’t a title. It's conflict, pressure, ownership, and figuring it out in real time. Over the last two decades, I’ve built teams, turned around chaos, and led when the playbook didn’t exist. I've created and launched products, business, and global programs creating $3 Billion in impact. This writing series was my reflection on meaningful moments that mattered on my path to leadership - even if I didn't always realize the role it played in the bigger picture. The Path of a Leader is a collection of those insights: honest stories, simple frameworks, and hard-won lessons for leaders carrying real weight.

If you’ve ever thought,

“This is harder than I expected… but I’m not backing down,”

 this series is for you.

Explore The Path of a Leader Series

The Path of a Leader Writing Series.

A COLLECTION OF LEADERSHIP LESSONS, GROWTH INSIGHTS, AND STORIES FROM THE TRENCHES OF MY OWN LEADERSHIP JOURNEY.

Leadership isn’t a title. It's conflict, pressure, ownership, and figuring it out in real time. Over the last two decades, I’ve built teams, turned around chaos, and led when the playbook didn’t exist. I've created and launched products, business, and global programs creating $3 Billion in impact. This writing series was my reflection on meaningful moments that mattered on my path to leadership - even if I didn't always realize the role it played in the bigger picture. The Path of a Leader is a collection of those insights: honest stories, simple frameworks, and hard-won lessons for leaders carrying real weight.

If you’ve ever thought,

“This is harder than I expected… but I’m not backing down,”

 this series is for you.

Explore The Path of a Leader Series

Selected Articles

Selected Articles

Trust. Business Catalyst or Achilles’ Heel?

What if character and competence were the primary concern for building your business ...
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4 Types of Teams. Duct Tape Teams & 3 Others.

You know how some teams are like a finely tuned orchestra, each member in perfect harmony with the othe...
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SCARF: It's Like an X-Ray of the Team and What's Broken

What if character and competence were the primary concern for building your business ...
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Dream Killers, Status Quo, The Resistance and The Lizard Brain

What stops progress?
What hinders those that GSD?Dream Killers and Lovers of Status Quo. These are...
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Articles

Articles

Swoop & Poop the path of a leader writing series Aug 08, 2023
Leadership is not about dramatic entrance or positional authority — it is about cultivating trust, shared context, and steady value creation. When leaders disrupt without dialogue, performance suffers. When they call, ...
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1988: Solving the Pizza Delivery Problem the path of a leader writing series Aug 05, 2023
Leadership often begins with a simple frustration and a willingness to act. When you see a problem, form a vision, take intentional action, and assemble the means to solve it, you create value. That pattern—Vision, Int...
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Dream Killers, Status Quo, The Resistance and The Lizard Brain the path of a leader writing series Aug 04, 2023
Progress is rarely blocked by complexity alone — it is stalled by fear, doubt, and allegiance to the status quo. Leaders must recognize both the external dream killers and the internal resistance that whisper “stay saf...
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An answer to "What's your growth plan" the path of a leader writing series Aug 03, 2023
Growth isn’t a slogan — it’s a system. It’s a sequence of choices about what matters most, what must be true, and what you will do next to create momentum. Leaders don’t “hope” for growth — they clarify the map, align ...
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The 4 Cornerstones of a GSD Guide the path of a leader writing series Jul 29, 2023
Leadership is not about control — it’s about contribution. The shift from managing people to serving people changes everything. When you choose to guide instead of command, you unlock trust, clarity, action, and moment...
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No Perfect Cast the path of a leader writing series Jul 28, 2023
Leadership is not certainty — it’s disciplined experimentation. Progress comes from casting again and again, learning from each attempt, and aligning a team toward a shared future worth reeling in. Momentum is built th...
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What to do First, High Value Questions the path of a leader writing series Jul 28, 2023
Clarity doesn’t require complexity. Sometimes three simple buckets — Now, Next, Later — reveal more about a team’s priorities, maturity, and value orientation than any polished roadmap ever could.

 

When I connect ...

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An Empathy Illustration That Works the path of a leader writing series Jul 28, 2023
What you see is rarely the whole story. Results are visible — beliefs, needs, fears, and intentions are not. When we learn to look beneath the surface, we unlock empathy, better judgment, and the conditions for people ...
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A Leader's Guide to Making an Impact the path of a leader writing series Jul 28, 2023
Your first 90 days are not about proving — they’re about mapping. When you step into something new, your fresh perspective is an asset. Ask bold questions. Capture what others overlook. Share what you’re seeing. The ma...
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Pour In - Someone Needs You To Care the path of a leader writing series Jul 28, 2023
Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is pause, look up, and pour into someone else. A few intentional words of appreciation can refill a depleted bucket, restore energy, and strengthen the trust that makes grea...
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Two Immediate Things That Accelerate Value Creation the path of a leader writing series Jul 28, 2023
High-performing teams don’t move fast because they hustle harder — they move fast because they share knowledge and operate with shared context. When everyone can see the map and access the artifacts, 1+1 stops being ad...
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The Path of a Leader Writing Series the path of a leader writing series Jul 27, 2023
This series is a reflection on decades of building, breaking, learning, leading, and rebuilding. It’s not theory — it’s scars, systems, flywheels, and hard-earned clarity about what it really takes to create value and ...
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Love People. Create Value.
© 2026 Justin McCullough. All rights reserved.
Love People. Create Value.
Get Clarity Every Friday →
© 2026 Justin McCullough.
All rights reserved.