Why I Don’t Micromanage (And What I Watch Instead)

I used to think that being a good leader meant staying involved in every detail. Check-ins, reviews, updates, approvals—I was everywhere.

Eventually, I realized something:
Micromanagement doesn’t scale. Leadership does.

So I stopped hovering. I stopped inserting myself into every decision. And I started watching the right things instead.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Results > activity
I don’t care how many hours someone worked. I care about whether they delivered what they said they would.
Micromanagers obsess over inputs. Leaders track outcomes.

2. Trends > snapshots
Anyone can have a bad week. But over time, patterns emerge—positive or not.
I look at trendlines in client satisfaction, quality of deliverables, and internal collaboration. One-off issues don’t rattle me. Repeated ones get attention.

3. Questions > instructions
Instead of giving answers, I ask questions:

  • “Are you the right person for this goal or task?”
  • “What will you do?”
  • “What are your challenges?”
    This builds ownership, not dependency. People grow faster when they think, not just follow.

4. Accountability > control
Micromanagement feels like control. Leadership builds accountability.
We use daily huddles and short check-ins to stay aligned. People say what they’re doing—and then they do it. That rhythm replaces the need to chase people down.

5. Culture > compliance
If you need to micromanage, it’s often a hiring or culture issue.
The right people, in the right system, don’t need constant supervision. They thrive with trust and clarity.

I don’t micromanage because I don’t have to.
Our team runs on trust, visibility, and accountability—not control.
That’s more sustainable, more scalable, and—frankly—more enjoyable for everyone involved.

standardJune 3Tom SalonekLeadership

The Most Underrated Meeting on My Calendar

Most people dread meetings. I get it.
They’re often too long, poorly run, and end without anything getting done.

But there’s one meeting I’ve kept for over two decades—rain or shine, remote or in-person. It’s quick. It’s focused. And it’s the most underrated thing on my calendar:

Our daily huddle.

What it is (and isn’t):
It’s not a status meeting. It’s not a brainstorming session. And it definitely doesn’t involve PowerPoint.
Our huddle is 15 minutes, same time every day, built to keep everyone aligned, accountable, and connected.

Here’s how it works:
Each person quickly shares:

  1. Big updates from last 24 hours
  2. Stuck items where help is needed

That’s it. No tangents. No deep dives. If something needs more discussion, we take it offline. The goal is to keep things moving—and surface blockers fast.

Why it works:

  • It creates clarity. Everyone knows what’s happening and who’s doing what. No guessing.
  • It builds trust. When people show up and consistently do what they say, credibility grows.
  • It keeps teams connected. Especially in remote settings, that daily touchpoint is a glue.

What it’s replaced:
Longer, less frequent check-ins that often felt like overkill, or came too late.
With our huddle, we solve minor problems before they snowball or “slay monsters” while they are little. We stay nimble. And we never waste time wondering what’s going on.

Final thought:
Not every meeting is worth protecting. But this one is.
The daily huddle keeps our team focused, our projects on track, and our culture strong.

If you want more on how we run it (and how you can too), I break it down further on my website and in my book The 100: Building Blocks for Business Leadership.

standardMay 27Tom SalonekCommunication

The AI Assistant I Use Daily (And What It’s Replaced)

I’m not interested in hype. I care about tools that save time, improve output, and help me lead better.

So when AI entered the picture, I didn’t dive in headfirst. I tested. I questioned. And now? I use it daily—not as a novelty, but as a real assistant.

Here’s what I use, what it’s replaced, and how it’s changed how I work.

1. Brainstorming and outlining
What I used to do: Stare at a blank page, jot disconnected ideas, reorganize them endlessly.
What I do now: Ask AI to generate outlines based on a topic I’m thinking through—blog posts, internal comms, training content.
Result: I start 10x faster. I still tweak and guide the structure, but I’m never starting cold.

2. First drafts of communication
What I used to do: Spend too much time rewriting emails or announcement drafts to strike the right tone.
What I do now: Feed a few bullet points to AI and ask for a clear, professional first draft.
Result: It cuts my writing time in half. I still personalize and trim—but the heavy lifting is done in seconds.

3. Meeting prep and research
What I used to do: Search LinkedIn, dig through old emails, skim websites for client or prospect info.
What I do now: Ask AI to summarize a company, recent news, or role-specific concerns for the person I’m meeting.
Result: I walk into meetings sharper—with context and talking points ready.

4. Naming and titling
What I used to do: Lose time picking a blog title or subject line.
What I do now: Ask AI for 10 options and pick one.
Result: Better titles. Faster decision-making.

5. Idea vetting
What I used to do: Bounce ideas off a colleague or let them sit for days while I thought them through.
What I do now: Use AI as a sounding board—asking “What are the downsides?” or “What would a skeptic say?”
Result: Faster clarity. Still human judgment—just faster.

What AI hasn’t replaced:

  • My judgment
  • Strategy
  • People skills
  • Trust
  • Leadership

AI doesn’t replace the hard stuff. But it helps me get to the hard stuff faster. And that’s the point.

standardMay 20Tom SalonekAI

What I’ve Learned About Trust from 30 Years of Consulting

In consulting, trust isn’t a buzzword—it’s the whole game.
You can have the best tech stack, the sharpest team, and the flashiest slide deck in the room… but if the client doesn’t trust you, none of it matters.

After over 30 years in the business, here’s what I’ve learned about how trust is built (and lost).

1. Trust is consistency over time
It’s not about one impressive meeting or a great kickoff call. It’s about showing up, following through, and doing what you said you’d do—over and over again.
Trust builds slowly and silently. Then, one broken promise can blow it up.

2. You earn it faster by telling the truth sooner
Bad news doesn’t get better with time. When something goes sideways—and it will—clients want honesty, not spin.
I’ve found that the faster we admit a misstep and share how we’re fixing it, the more credibility we build. It’s counterintuitive but true.

3. Being technically right isn’t always enough
You can win the argument and still lose the room.
Trust isn’t just intellectual—it’s emotional. Clients trust people who listen, who meet them where they are, and who understand their pressure (not just their project scope).

4. Trust is built between meetings, not just in them
It’s the quick update when nothing’s changed. The extra question that shows you’re thinking ahead. The quiet follow-up that signals, “We’ve got you.”
These moments don’t get logged in JIRA or tracked in a spreadsheet—but they’re noticed.

5. Trust is fragile—and portable
People remember how you made them feel. If you’ve built trust with a client, they’ll take you with them when they move companies. If you’ve burned it, same deal.
In this business, your reputation travels faster than you do.

The longer I’ve led teams and worked with clients, the more I’ve realized: we’re not just in the software business. We’re in the trust business.

And like anything worth building, it takes time, intention, and care.

standardMay 13Tom SalonekLeadership

If AI Is So Smart, Why Can’t It Run a Project?

AI can draft an email, summarize a meeting, write code, and even crank out a blog post like this one (with help). But there’s one thing it still can’t do:

Run a real project.

We’ve tried. We’ve experimented with AI for status reports, timelines, risk assessments, and backlog grooming. It’s impressive—fast, helpful, and often accurate. But project management? That’s still human territory.

Here’s why:

1. AI can’t read the room.
Deadlines shift. Priorities change. A stakeholder’s “no big deal” tone in an email actually means “I’m about to escalate this.”
AI doesn’t catch nuance. It doesn’t read body language, office politics, or tension over Teams calls. Project leaders do.

2. Projects don’t follow scripts.
Even the best Gantt chart goes sideways by week two. People get sick. Budgets get cut. A client pivots.
AI is great at pattern recognition—but projects are often the opposite: messy, emotional, and unpredictable. Leading through ambiguity takes real-time judgment, not pre-trained algorithms.

3. Relationships still matter. A lot.
When things go south (and they will), people want to talk to someone they trust—not a chatbot.
A seasoned project lead knows how to listen, adjust, empathize, and reset expectations without blowing up the timeline—or the relationship.

4. AI doesn’t know your business.
It knows businesses in general. It doesn’t know your unique challenges, team dynamics, or what happened last quarter that’s still lingering in the background.
Good project leadership isn’t just about tasks. It’s about context—and context still requires a human brain.

That said—AI is an amazing co-pilot.
It can flag risks faster. Draft communication. Generate insights from sprint notes.
But it’s not leading the call, navigating egos, or rescuing a deliverable gone off the rails. That’s you.

So no, AI can’t run a project.

But it can help you run one better.

standardMay 6Tom SalonekAI