This is what Top Leaders Know About Training Teams (And Now you Can Too!)
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I’m a banker, and nine months ago, I became the head of an SME-intensive branch.
By then, I had already read multiple books on leadership and team building. They all made perfect sense—on paper. But when you’re new and trying to put theory into practice, things feel very different. All that wisdom you read about? It’s hard to recall when you’re in the thick of it. Theory quickly fades, and reality takes over.
There’s so much to do. Your team has a wide range of skills (and gaps), and trying to make everything fit together feels like working on a jigsaw puzzle without the picture on the box. The pieces are all there… but you’re not sure how they fit.
You think you know what to do. But suddenly, it feels like you’re the only one who knows. There’s too much to handle alone, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t fight the chaos by yourself. If something goes right, you get the credit. But when things go wrong—and they often do—you’re the one left holding the bag.
The customers aren’t happy. Your team isn’t happy. Your controllers aren’t happy. And you? You’re struggling to find your footing while everything seems to spiral downward. It feels like there’s no way back. Like someone drowning, you thrash around trying to stay afloat. Sometimes you manage a breath; most times, it feels like you’re breathing water.
This image is omnipresent at the backdrop of my efforts.
In the quest of developing skills to address this issue, I came across, below video by Dan Martell.
Dan Martell is no stranger to me. His videos are regular guests in my YouTube feed—always popping up, waving, and saying, “Hey, you need this!”
I downloaded his video.
The title is super clickbaity (guilty pleasure), and it was long-form content—which I actually love because it means real depth. So, I downloaded it and dove in.
Dan kicked things off with a killer value proposition: “Buy back your time.” That immediately got my attention. And from there, he segued into one of my favorite topics—how to build a goal-oriented team.
Let’s start with his simple premise:
The #1 hurdle to achieving your goals, scaling your business, and—if that’s your vibe—getting obscenely rich… is TIME.
And that’s where the Buyback Principle comes in:
👉 Don’t hire to grow your business. Hire to buy back your time.
Dan breaks it down into five types of work you need to delegate if you ever want to free yourself from the daily grind.
He calls it the Replacement Ladder, and here’s the deal:
As leaders, we need to focus on handing off these five categories of tasks:
- Admin
- Delivery
- Marketing
- Sales
- Leadership
And here’s where it gets really interesting—especially with leadership.
Dan says your team members should own the tasks. They should be telling you what they’re going to do… not waiting around for you to tell them.
And when they come to you with their plan? That’s when you step in—not to author, but to edit.
This concept really stuck with me:
👉 Edit, don’t author.
You’re not writing the playbook from scratch. They are. You’re just making tweaks, guiding, fine-tuning.
And why does this work? Because if you tell them exactly what to do and it doesn’t work, guess who gets blamed? Yep. You.
But if they build the plan, they own it. They’re accountable. And that’s exactly how it should be.
Then Dan shifts gears and dives into Transformational Leadership, dropping a reference that instantly got my attention:
👉 Naval Ravikant.
Naval Ravikant!
If you know, you know.
I read The Almanack of Naval Ravikant a while back, and it’s the only book I’ve ever highlighted to the point where the pages look like a neon sign. My notes on it? Honestly, they’re about as long as the book itself. Worth every scribble.
Here’s the core wisdom I took away (and still come back to all the time):
👉 Making money isn’t something you do; it’s a skill you learn.
Read that again.
Naval keeps it simple (and powerful):
👉 Learn to sell. Learn to build.
If you can do both, you’ll be unstoppable. Period.
And to level up, Naval says you need to arm yourself with these four things:
1. Specific Knowledge
This isn’t the stuff you learn in school. It’s the unique knowledge you pick up through experience, curiosity, and obsession. You can’t be trained for it. And the best part?
👉 It can’t be outsourced. It can’t be automated.
It’s your secret sauce.
2. Accountability
Put your name on the line. Take business risks and own them. Why? Because when you’re accountable, the rewards get bigger. As Naval says,
👉 “Earn with your name.”
3. Leverage
If you want to build wealth, you need leverage.
Naval breaks it down into three kinds:
- Code (write software that works while you sleep)
- Content (create stuff that spreads without you)
- Capital (money working for you)
4. Collaboration
No one makes it alone. Build your team. Surround yourself with people who elevate you and share the mission.
👉 “Play long-term games with long-term people.”
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership is all about letting go of the need to micromanage (yep, that old habit!) and shifting your focus to what really matters.
Here’s the new game plan:
1. Outcome
Instead of telling your team how to do things, talk about what results you’re aiming for. Focus on the destination, not the GPS instructions.
2. Measure
Set clear parameters so everyone knows what success looks like—and you can actually track progress. No more guessing games.
3. Coach
Guide them. Teach them. Build systems that help them figure things out and get better over time. You’re not just managing tasks; you’re building builders.
Dan also drops a simple but powerful problem-solving framework called 1-3-1. It works like this:
✅ 1 specific challenge
✅ 3 viable options or solutions
✅ 1 solid recommendation
So when someone brings you a problem, they’re also bringing options and a plan—not just dumping the issue in your lap and walking away.
(Imagine how much time that saves!)
One of my favorite takeaways:
👉 “The quality of your life and business depends on the quality of your problems.”
If you’re still dealing with low-level, $10 tasks, you’ll stay stuck there.
But…
👉 “Million-dollar companies aren’t built on $10 tasks.”
The more you delegate and shift accountability to your team, the more you free yourself up to focus on million-dollar problems—the kind of thinking and strategy that actually moves the needle.