I Broke the First Law of Power. It Cost Me Everything.
Turns out doing everything right is the fastest way to get axed.
He asked me, “Would you rather make $300k a year or own a piece of this business?”
I responded immediately, “Own a piece of the business.”
Three weeks passed, and we met again.
“I’ve made a decision,” he said, “Your name will never be on the box.”
Two months later, I left.
My phone rang. It had been a year since he fired me.
He needed me to sign something.
We cursed each other up and down over the phone for an hour.
“Before I sign this, I need to know why you fired me?”
“Because I thought you were coming for my job,” he confessed.
I was honest with him, “You’re a stupid bastard.”
It was 830am. I sat at the conference room table for our weekly check-in.
I was wearing a Lululemon hoodie and shorts.
He showed up in a suit with his attorney.
“You’ve done everything we asked and more. Thank you.”
Then his attorney slid a termination agreement across the table.
We’ve never spoken again.
Never Outshine the Master
It took me over a decade to understand this fundamental aspect of human nature.
“Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents … Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.”
~ Robert Greene, 48 Laws of Power
I broke this law.
Not once. Not twice.
Three times.
And every time, it ended the same:
Fired. Ghosted. Burned at the altar of fragile egos and corporate bureaucracy.
Here’s the brutal truth…
I wasn’t fired for doing poor work.
I was fired for being too loud.
Too bold. Too early.
For pushing too hard.
For being too much of a threat.
And most people reading this? You’re headed for the same fate.
Because you don’t understand how power actually works.
The First Law of Power is Real
Forget KPIs. Forget 10X productivity.
None of it matters if the person above you feels outshined.
We love to believe talent wins.
It doesn’t.
Not when there is someone above you incentized to keep you from rising.
Perceived threat loses. Every time.
Your boss will not say this out loud.
But it will leak out in private slights, subtle sabotage, and — eventually — the termination email sent after-hours.
And here’s the part you’ll miss…
They won’t even think they’re being political.
They’ll tell themselves you “weren’t a culture fit.”
They’ll say “you weren’t a team player.”
They’ll frame your initiative as arrogance.
…your performance as posturing.
…your confidence as disrespect.
Why?
Insecure leaders can’t distinguish excellence from insubordination.
To them, you’re not building. You’re attacking.
How You Break Power Law #1 (Without Knowing It)
You think you’re killing it.
You speak up in meetings.
You challenge weak ideas.
You build efficient systems (that make others look slow).
You take initiative and solve problems.
You stand out in public settings.
You think you’re helping.
But what they see is this:
“You’re not playing your role.”
And if the person above you needs to feel like the smartest person in the room, congratulations:
You just walked into the kill zone.
What They Say vs What They Want
They say they want:
Innovation
Ownership
Initiative
Leadership
What they actually want:
Obedience
Deference
Loyalty
Applause
They’ll tell you:
“We value high-performers.”
But they’ll promote the people who never make them feel threatened.
They’ll keep the seat warm for the agreeable.
They’ll reward the inoffensive.
They’ll destroy the ones who dared to aim higher than their boss.
The Talent Trap: Why Driven People Keep Getting Burned
Here’s the paradox…
The better you are, the more danger you’re in.
Because your competence raises the perceived risk to a fragile leader.
And your ambition sounds like mutiny to someone whose self-worth is tied to the org chart.
If you’ve ever heard this at work:
“You’re doing great… just slow down a bit.”
“You’re ready, but others aren’t ready for you.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“Your intensity can be overwhelming.”
You’re already on thin ice.
They’re not coaching you.
They’re warning you.
So What Do You Do?
Option 1: Play the Game
If you want to survive inside the system:
Study what leadership really values — not what they say.
Do they reward risk-takers or rule-followers?
Do they praise ideas or loyalty?
Do they promote visionaries or validators?
Then — painful as it may be — adapt.
Dim your light until they can handle the wattage.
Not forever. Just long enough to build power of your own.
Or…
Option 2: Build Your Own Damn House
If you’re done pretending to be smaller than you are: Start your own thing.
There are two places you can operate in full strength:
A company run by someone braver than you (rare)
A company run by you
If you’ve been punished for excellence more than once, here’s your sign:
You weren’t made to take orders. You were made to build empires.
The sooner you accept that, the sooner you stop getting blindsided by betrayal in business casual.
The Rub
My proclivity for breaking Power Law #1 was part of the spark that led to the founding of Rogue Risk in 2020.
I used to think I got fired for being too bold, too loud, and moving too fast.
However, it was these traits that enabled us to accomplish something no one else could do, or has done since.
We bootstrapped a national, digital commercial insurance agency during COVID and grew it so fast that we were acquired in 2 years.
While everyone else was scrambling, we were growing.
We wrote over 100 accounts a month, generating leads at an absurdly low CAC, and proving out a belief I’ve been sharing with the insurance industry for a decade: digital agencies can deliver the same value as local agencies but scale significantly faster.
Now I know I got fired for being right too early.
Power doesn’t reward the right answer.
It rewards the right ego.
You want freedom?
Build something they can’t fire you from.
This is the way.
Hanley
P.S. If you’ve ever been punished for breaking Power Law #1 — share this.
P.S.S. If you’re finally done dimming your light, follow me here. We’re just getting started.
P.S.S. Next week, paid members are going to get a roadmap for how leaders manage these ambitious, high-performers without alienating them or feeling like they’re being outshone.