Mike Hutchins for ACT Leadership

When good leadership advice becomes yours

The podcaster—charismatic, fast-talking, more confident than experienced—drops this line:

“The strongest leaders aren’t in control. They’re in demand.”

It lands. You pause. Rewind. Send it to a colleague: Sound familiar?

You’ve been wanting to loosen your grip. To lead without doing it all yourself. To let your team step up.

So you try.

Next meeting, you step back. You listen. You wait.

Then things start to feel awkward. Someone hesitates.

And before you can stop yourself—you’re back in: summing up, redirecting, fixing.

What Just Happened?

Your reflexes kicked—without even noticing it.

It’s how you learned to lead—and how others expect you to lead.

So it’s no surprise that when pressure hits, the podcas

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