In this solo episode, Brandon breaks down one of the most overlooked drivers of team performance: a leader’s ability to understand the true nature of the work their function is responsible for. Most leaders want high performance and a great environment, but few achieve it. Brandon argues that the root cause isn’t effort, tactics, or leadership style, it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the function, the type of thinking required for the work, and the capabilities of the people doing it.

He unpacks why environments get overwhelmed and inconsistent, why the usual fixes don’t work, and why two failure modes (overwhelmed people in roles that are too big for them, and high-capability people stuck in roles that are too small) destroy momentum and culture.

Brandon shares why leaders must define their function’s true responsibility, break down the real cognitive demands of the work, and understand their people at a deeper level. This is the foundation that makes every other leadership practice actually work.

Topics Covered
• Why overwhelm and inconsistency are symptoms, not causes
• The real responsibility of a function inside a business
• How leaders collapse different kinds of thinking into “tasks”
• Why some people drown and others suffocate
• How to define, scope, and assign work correctly
• Why capability alignment is the foundation of great culture
• What leaders must understand to develop people effectively

Connect with Brandon
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonbartneck

Music Credit
Intro and outro music – Slow Burn – Kevin MacLeod

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