Feeling the weight of leadership? Try this.

There was a time in my corporate career when I thought the stress of leadership was just part of the job.

While being the one everyone turned to made me feel important, it was also burning me out.

Late nights. Back-to-back meetings. Solving every problem myself. It wasn’t sustainable, but I didn’t know another way to lead.

That’s why I was so energized by my conversation with Keith Ferrazzi about his new book Never Lead Alone. His model of collaborative leadership gave language to something I wish I’d known sooner:

You don’t have to lead alone.

In fact, it’s better when you don’t.

Here are my three biggest takeaways from my conversation with Keith (and there are more gems in the full post and video of our conversation, which I’ll link to in the comments):

1. Let go of the hero model

When leaders try to do it all, we become the bottleneck. Like the days when team members lined up outside my office, waiting for my feedback before they could take the next step.

Keith calls this the “hub and spoke” model: one central leader with the team orbiting around them. It’s outdated, inefficient, and exhausting.

Collaborative leadership distributes ownership across the team. Everyone becomes responsible for results, not just the boss. Doesn’t that sound better already?

2. Create a culture of candor

Most teams avoid conflict, and it’s holding them back. Keith shared a simple but powerful practice: the “candor break.” Simply pause a meeting and ask, “What’s not being said right now that needs to be said?” Even better, break into pairs so people feel safer to speak up.

This is especially important when you have a team of “nice” people like ours. We’re more likely to waste time going too far down the wrong path because no one expressed their doubts upfront. Maybe this sounds familiar?

Taking candor breaks turns culture shift into an assignment. And it’s part of how collaborative leadership creates the psychological safety people need to be honest and productive.

3. Redesign collaboration itself

Keith introduced the “stress test” as a better alternative to traditional status updates. Instead of clicking through slides or recapping the whole process, the presenter shares three things:

1. What we’ve achieved
2. Where we’re struggling
3. Where we’re headed next

Then the team responds, not to criticize, but to build it up. They offer risks, ideas, and support. This is collaborative leadership in action. Meetings become working sessions that move the ball forward. How refreshing would that be?

On my blog this week, I’m sharing even more of what I’ve learned from Keith:

• The mindset that’s keeping you stuck (and burning you out)
• How to build high-performing teams
• Why “buy-in” is broken (and what to do instead)
• Where AI fits into the future of leadership
• And more

Read the full post and watch our conversation here

If leadership has started to feel like a lonely, thankless job, these might just be the insights you’ve been looking for.

Let me know what you think.