The Tool You Invest In

Every lifter knows that your tools matter. Barbells with tight tolerances, smooth bearings, and well-maintained knurling do not just make lifting more enjoyable. They make it safer, more effective, and more consistent. Investing in quality equipment is not about appearances but about performance and longevity. Neglecting your tools leads to unpredictable outcomes, unnecessary risk, and wasted effort.

The same is true in building products and teams. The most important tool you will ever invest in is your people. Yet in too many organizations, especially those led by egocentric founders or executives, the energy and focus go toward building a cult of personality instead of investing in the team that actually delivers results. These leaders chase personal brand moments — keynotes, interviews, social media spotlights — while their people struggle with lack of resources, shifting priorities, and unclear goals. Companies like these are not designed to lift everyone up. They are designed to keep one person at the top.

WeWork under Adam Neumann is a prime example. Neumann’s obsession with his personal image and extravagant lifestyle overshadowed the needs of the company and its employees. His behavior bred chaos and instability, culminating in WeWork’s spectacular collapse, which hurt thousands of workers and investors who had trusted in the vision of one person rather than a strong team.

I preach the complete opposite. Our role as leaders is not to cultivate an image of ourselves as saviors or visionaries. It is to clear the path so our teams can do their best work, remove obstacles, and set them up for success without making ourselves the story. A leader who needs to be the hero will always sacrifice team health for personal glory. A leader who makes the team the hero builds lasting strength.

Consider Microsoft under Satya Nadella. By shifting focus away from internal politics and combative silos to a culture of empathy, shared success, and growth mindset, Nadella turned a stagnating giant into one of the world’s most innovative and collaborative companies. His investment in people became Microsoft’s most powerful tool, reigniting both morale and performance.

This investment shows up in simple but powerful ways. Regular one-on-one conversations that go beyond status updates. Clear career paths that match individual goals with organizational needs. Genuine encouragement when someone steps up to face a tough challenge. Just like oiling the bearings of a barbell or checking the safety pins, these small actions add up to a culture where everyone feels they can perform at their best.

When you fail to invest in your tools, or your team, things break. People leave, quality suffers, and trust erodes. Frustration festers when problems are ignored or when people are treated like cogs rather than craftspeople. Teams become brittle, unable to adapt when stress increases. Over time, just like a neglected piece of gym equipment, they become unsafe and unreliable.

The best leaders recognize that the team itself is the ultimate tool. They make proactive investments in learning opportunities, mentorship, collaboration rituals, and mental health support. They advocate for their team’s needs with the same urgency they would apply to fixing a broken production system. They know that an investment in people pays dividends in creativity, resilience, and sustained performance.

And they remember that this investment is ongoing. Just as a well-used barbell requires regular maintenance, people require consistent care. The strongest teams are not built by one-time efforts or flashy perks but by steady, thoughtful attention that helps every member feel stronger, safer, and more capable.

Empathy is at the heart of great product management. We spend time listening to users, understanding their pain, and building solutions that make their lives better. Yet too many leaders forget that empathy must start with our own teams. The same patience, curiosity, and care we extend to customers should guide how we support those we work with every day. When leaders apply empathy both outward to users and inward to their teams, they create a culture where everyone feels seen, valued, and motivated to do their best work.

“Titles do not matter. Relying on explicit authority — your rank, your title, your power over someone’s paycheck — reveals weakness, not strength.”

The strongest leaders do not force people to follow them. They create an environment where people want to follow because they trust the mission, believe in the work, and feel supported in becoming their best. This is implicit authority. The quiet confidence earned by consistently empowering others. It is the difference between being a boss people fear and a leader people choose.

I saw this firsthand in the US Army. Those who demanded respect purely through their rank were often the ones who deserved it the least. True leaders like Nate Fick inspired teams who wanted to follow them into battle, not because they had to, but because they believed in the leader, the mission, and each other.

When AI Joins the Team

The team is changing in 2026. AI agents are now teammates. They draft, summarize, prototype, prioritize, ship, and increasingly, decide. You manage them the way you would manage any direct report: clear mission, honest feedback, real ownership when something breaks. The team is still the tool. The tool just got bigger. We will go deeper on this in the chapter on AI.

The strongest teams are not defined by the brilliance of a single person, or the cleverness of a single model, but by how fiercely they lift each other, day after day. When we invest in people with patience and purpose, we build not just products, but missions worth believing in.