Adam Mendler

Former Udemy CEO Greg Brown made a mistake a lot of leaders are making right now with AI.⁣ ⁣ When generative AI exploded, he asked every functional leader to figure out how to embed it into their own teams. It didn't work. Everyone already had a full-time job, and something this transformational fell through the cracks.⁣ ⁣ The fix: stop treating it as a side project. Put one leader in charge with a clear mandate to transform every function around the technology, and give them the team and authority to do it.⁣ ⁣ Big change doesn't get led by committee. It gets led by someone whose full-time job is leading it.

Former Austin Mayor Steve Adler on the hardest issue he faced in office: homelessness.⁣ ⁣ The people affected are a small % of the population, but the impact on a city is massive. It requires action on many fronts, some very costly, and it splits communities between compassion and concerns over safety and quality of life.⁣ ⁣ The real lesson: when leaders fail to address a hard problem head on, it doesn't stay contained. It morphs into public safety issues and erodes trust in government itself.⁣ ⁣ Leadership means tackling the hardest problems early, before inaction becomes the story.

Before taking a new role, ask yourself three questions.⁣ ⁣ Who will mentor me here.⁣ ⁣ Could I be happy here forever, even if this is my last job.⁣ ⁣ Will what I achieve here create options for what comes next.⁣ ⁣ Mentorship isn't about copying someone's path. It's about having someone help you become who you want to be. And careers aren't built on five-year plans. They're built on options.

Steve Adler said something that's stuck with me: the most successful people tend to be the happiest ones, and he's not sure which one drives the other.⁣ ⁣ But here's the real key. You can't control most of what happens to you. You can always control how you react.⁣ ⁣ That's not a soft skill. That's leadership.⁣ ⁣ Own your reaction, and you own your life.

Leadership lesson from Steve Adler: most people are good, most people are trying hard, and most people want what's best for their families.⁣ ⁣ It's easy to dismiss anyone who disagrees with you. It's harder, and far more valuable, to listen first and find the common ground underneath the disagreement.

Steve Adler makes a point every leader should sit with: government closest to the people is where trust gets rebuilt, not lost.⁣ ⁣ Cities are where leaders can experiment, adapt fast, and actually see the results of their decisions.⁣ ⁣ The lesson: proximity to the people you serve isn't a limitation on leadership. It's the advantage.

Porsche didn't become one of the strongest brands in the world through clever marketing. It came from integrity in the product itself.⁣ ⁣ The lesson applies far beyond cars: never tell a customer your product does something it doesn't. If you can't deliver on it, don't talk about it. Trust is built on honesty, not promises.

AI isn't replacing accountants. It's raising the bar for what accountants need to know.⁣ ⁣ The entry-level tasks get automated. The learning curve doesn't disappear—it moves up.⁣ ⁣ The leaders who win here aren't the ones who fear the tools. They're the ones who get comfortable with them fast, and push their teams to do the same.⁣ ⁣ Technology changes. The need to keep learning never does.

One of the best pieces of career advice I've heard: study accounting, even if you don't plan to become an accountant.⁣ ⁣ Accounting is the language of business. Learn it and you understand the balance sheet, the income statement, the cash flow — the foundation everything else is built on.⁣ ⁣ Once you know the foundation, you can go in any direction. Strategy, operations, entrepreneurship, leadership. You'll see the business in a way most people never will.⁣ ⁣ The best leaders aren't just visionaries. They understand the fundamentals. That starts with the numbers.

Want to find your real career path? Try this exercise:⁣ ⁣ Get 4-5 close friends together for dinner. Their only job that night is to listen to you talk about what you love, then reflect back what they hear.⁣ ⁣ No talk about salary. No talk about rent or car payments. That comes later, and it always works itself out when you're chasing something you actually care about.⁣ ⁣ Start with a blank sheet of paper. What would you do if anything were possible? What's the path to get there? Another degree? An apprenticeship? A move across the world to learn from the best?⁣ ⁣ One student wanted to make the best coffee in the world. So he went to where the best beans are grown and learned the entire process from soil to cup.⁣ ⁣ Clarity doesn't come from thinking harder. It comes from getting outside your own head and letting people who know you help you see it.

Career growth rarely comes to those who wait quietly for it.⁣ ⁣ The people who go furthest are the ones who get clear on where they want to go and say it out loud.⁣ ⁣ Map out the path you want. Advocate for yourself. Let the people around you know your ambitions.⁣ ⁣ You can't expect others to help you get somewhere they don't know you're trying to go.

Career clarity doesn't start with the job market. It starts with knowing yourself.⁣ ⁣ What you like. What you don't. What you need from a company, a role, a career. Your actual relationship with risk, not the version you assume you have.⁣ ⁣ Know thyself first. The right fit follows.

The best leaders don't use technology to replace the human touch. They use it to buy back time for it.⁣ ⁣ Efficiency is the tool. Empathy is the edge.⁣ ⁣ The more tasks we automate, the more our real value shifts to judgment, humility, and the ability to walk into a room and actually read how someone is feeling.⁣ ⁣ That's not a skill AI replicates. That's leadership.

The best leaders don't wait for change to happen to them. They decide to be a participant, not a bystander.⁣ ⁣ Ask yourself: are you in the driver's seat or the passenger seat?⁣ ⁣ You can't control everything on the road. But you can control whether you're steering or just along for the ride.⁣ ⁣ That mindset shift changes everything.

Announcing "I want to be CEO" on week one doesn't signal ambition. It signals a disconnect between who you are and who you think you are.⁣ ⁣ The leaders who actually get ahead do the opposite. They say: "I know exactly how far I have to go, and I'm asking you because I respect your judgment on how to get there."⁣ ⁣ Humility isn't weakness. It's strategy. People open doors for those who show they haven't lost perspective.

The best leaders don't make hybrid work a rigid rule — they teach their teams to use judgment.⁣ ⁣ LaTosha Marks puts it well: look at your week, your meetings, your responsibilities before deciding where to work. Flexibility only works when people are intentional with it.

Reflection is a leadership skill. Rumination is a trap disguised as one.⁣ ⁣ Great leaders review their decisions, ask what they could have done better, and learn from it. But there's a line where reflection stops serving you and starts stalling you.⁣ ⁣ The discipline isn't just in looking back. It's in knowing when to close the loop, take the lesson, and move forward.

Body language doesn't tell the whole story.⁣ ⁣ Frustration, exhaustion, embarrassment — all of it shows up in how someone carries themselves during an investigation. That doesn't make them less credible.⁣ ⁣ The best investigators focus on the words, not the posture. And they know when to pause, reschedule, and come back when someone is in the right frame of mind.⁣ ⁣ That's not weakness. That's good leadership.