tldr: Leadership growth follows the same physics as getting jacked — time, tension, and simplicity. You don’t need another framework. You need more reps.
At 44, I pulled 465 pounds off the floor.
It took me two years to get there.
I started at 185lb.
No hacks. No secret program. No guru whispering form cues on Instagram.
Just heavy reps, done over and over until they weren’t heavy anymore.
Leadership growth works the same way.
Everyone wants the shortcut.
Nobody wants the barbell.
The Problem: Leadership Got Complicated on Purpose
The leadership industry turned simple truths into expensive confusion.
Because complexity sells.
Complexity feels like progress.
And complexity keeps you dependent.
Most leadership programs exist to make weak managers feel productive — not to make strong ones stronger.
They hand you buzzwords that make you sound like a leader instead of act like one.
You don’t need another model.
You need more weight.
You need more reps.
Leadership growth is simple.
It’s not easy — but it’s simple.
The Leadership Growth Equation
Let’s strip it down to physics.
Leadership Growth = Time × (0.6 Unyielding Focus + 0.3 Systemizing Freedom + 0.1 Mental Maintenance)
That’s it. The Leadership Growth Equation.
Simple math. Brutal in practice.
1. Unyielding Focus (60%)
Focus is the weight you lift.
It’s the resistance that builds muscle.
Most leaders chase variety — new strategies, shiny tools, a reorg every quarter.
Focus rejects that impulse.
Unyielding Focus is the discipline to stay locked on the hill that matters while everyone else chases noise.
It’s saying “no” ten times more than you say “yes.”
It’s protecting the core mission like your family lives inside it.
You’ll know you’re focused enough when people start calling you obsessive.
That’s when the muscle starts to grow.
2. Systemizing Freedom (30%)
Freedom isn’t the absence of systems — it’s the product of them.
You systemize so your team can execute without you as the bottleneck.
You build playbooks, not prisons.
Processes that free your time, not chain your people.
Every rep of documentation, delegation, and automation adds plates to the bar.
It feels slow — but speed lives on the other side of structure.
Chaos doesn’t scale. Systems do.
3. Mental Maintenance (10%)
The last 10% is mental maintenance — RealityOS.
It’s the system that keeps your signal clean when everything else goes to static.
Command the Present. Detach from the Outcome. Own your Edge. Lead with Resonance. Take Radical Responsibility.
That’s how you stay strong without breaking.
Time: The Multiplier Nobody Respects
The last part of the equation is the multiplier.
Time.
Time makes simple systems unbeatable.
It’s compounding in human form.
Most leaders quit right before the results compound.
They switch plans, change strategies, chase novelty — and restart the clock every time.
If you can’t stay consistent, you’ll stay small.
Leadership, like strength, doesn’t reward intensity.
It rewards consistency.
Your growth looks flat — until it spikes.
That’s compounding.
That’s time.
Why Simplicity Scares People
Simplicity kills excuses.
Once you know what matters, you can’t hide behind process.
You either did the reps or you didn’t.
You either focused or you didn’t.
That’s why the leadership industry resists simplicity — because simple systems expose lazy operators.
The self-help economy depends on you staying slightly broken. Because fixed people don’t buy more frameworks.
Complexity is the opiate of the mediocre. Simplicity is the weapon of the elite.
The Gym Rules of Leadership
Leadership isn’t theory. It’s tension and recovery.
You lift tension through hard calls, hard feedback, and hard truths.
You recover by owning the result, learning fast, and moving forward.
You repeat until strong becomes your default setting.
Leaders who grow understand this:
The bar never gets lighter. You just get stronger.
This is your mental gym. Every rep counts. Every distraction steals progress.
Do This Today
1) Audit your focus.
Write down every project, meeting, and priority. Cross out anything that doesn’t move the mission. That’s 60% of your growth right there.
2) Systemize one thing.
Pick one task you repeat weekly. Build a checklist, SOP, or delegation note. If it frees five minutes, it’s worth it.
3) Run a mental maintenance check.
Ask: Where am I blaming instead of owning? Fix that. Your leadership strength starts there.
The Rub
Leadership doesn’t get easier.
You just stop needing it to.
Leadership growth is simple.
It’s just brutally honest.
No seminar can sell you the reps.
No consultant can lift the bar for you.
The work is the reward.
The reps are the revelation.
If this hit, there’s more iron on the bar inside the Finding Peak Podcast →
This is the way.
Hanley
Need Help?
If this hit home and you’re craving more clarity in chaos—
That’s the work I do.
I coach founders and execs who want real accountability and stronger leadership reps.
If that’s you, shoot me a message.