Be More Irrational (I’m completely serious)
A 6-minute investment to make you a better leader - In role. In life.
Hi, I’m Jason. I'm here to help you thrive mentally, physically, and emotionally through a powerful combination of science-based advice and coaching guidance.
Think of this as your weekly ‘cheat sheet’ to help you lead better and live better.
What’s coming up:
Prime Performance: This Week’s Best Transformation Tips & Life-Hacks
The Prime Perspective: Be More Irrational (I’m completely serious)
Lessons from the Arena: Building Leaders, Not Followers
Be a Prime Mover: 1 Quote to Spark Change
Prime Performance: This Week’s Best Transformation Tips & Life-hacks
📖 READ Fear Is Your Secret Weapon
Neuroscientist Nicole Vignola wrote one of my favourite books last year, ‘Rewire’, and in her latest blog post she once again translates complex neuroscience into practical leadership insights. In this case it’s how deliberately seeking controlled challenges rewires your brain to better handle future stress - a biological leadership hack hiding in plain sight.
🎞️ WATCH 55 Seconds on What Leadership Really Is
Simon Sinek really cuts to the heart of the matter here - leadership is a skill and as the man himself says, the best leaders he knows are students of the game (and if you’re showing up here, I promise to keep on bringing the knowledge to help you grow).
📻 LISTEN How Much Do You Really Care? And Why?
In just over 13 minutes, former US Navy Seal Jocko Willink and Echo Charles drop a cluster of knowledge bombs on topics like building internal confidence, handling criticism and letting go of external validation. It’s a response to a young man preparing to become a Navy SEAL who struggles with caring too much about others’ opinions, but a huge amount of it is relevant to leaders of any age.
The Prime Perspective: Thoughts on Leadership and Growth
Be More Irrational (I’m completely serious)
There's a damaging obsession spreading among some leaders today - the need to be seen as ‘rational’. I see it a lot right now and suspect it’s been driven by the pre-eminence of the tech industry - treating emotions as weaknesses to be suppressed rather than powers to be harnessed.
This is a leadership trend masquerading as wisdom. And it's dead wrong.
Think about the leaders who've inspired you most. The ones who brought out your best work, who made you feel alive with possibility and who themselves did great things.
If you had to choose five words to describe them, would “rational” make the cut? Or would you reach for words like “visionary”, “inspiring”, “courageous” or “authentic”? The leaders we follow into the fire are rarely characterised by their cold logic.
To be clear, it’s not that rationality doesn’t have a part to play, of course it does. What I’m coming out strongly against is the idea that it’s somehow superior and that other traits are indicative of weak or erratic leadership. You at your best is that beautiful combination of emotion and logic and the ability to recognise when and how you deploy that to best effect.
Think about your finest moments, your greatest achievements… what characterized those breakthrough times? I bet they weren’t defined solely by studying a spreadsheet - that was just table stakes territory.
Remember what it feels like when you're pitching to win business and suddenly hit that flow state? That surge of energy, that emotional high you tap into - that's not a weakness to overcome. That's you at your best. You know that feeling, so you know what I’m saying has resonance.
If you’re still not convinced, let's look at the objective evidence. My take? If the leaders you most admire in business had been “more rational”, most wouldn't have even got started!
When Jeff Bezos left his comfortable Wall Street job to sell books online, his former colleagues thought he was certifiably insane. His decision defied conventional wisdom.
Elon Musk invested his PayPal fortune into rockets and electric cars when’rational’ analysis said both industries were financial deathtraps.
Sara Blakely cut the feet off her pantyhose and turned this ‘crazy’ idea into Spanx, becoming a billionaire.
Dive further back into history and you’ll see the Wright Brothers built an airplane when all available data suggested human flight was impossible.
I could go on and on, but you get my point. Vision. Ambition. Creativity. Intuition. These aren't liabilities, they're the definitively human qualities that drive extraordinary achievements - and emotions are a critical part in powering them.
By contrast, rationality alone too often equals playing it safe. Settling for average. Playing defense instead of offense.
The real skill isn't in being more rational. It's in knowing when to leverage your analytical mind and when to trust your emotional intelligence. It's about banishing this binary idea that you need to suppress your emotions to make good decisions.
You at your best is when you're tapping into your emotions. When you're connecting with your creative instincts. That's when you'll do your greatest work. That's when you'll inspire others to follow you anywhere.
And yes, this is a very emotional call to action. I'm not pretending to be purely rational about this at all - because the most important things in leadership never are.
THE PRIME PERFORMANCE PROGRAM
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Lessons from the Arena: Real Life Leadership Challenges
Every week, I'll share real challenges from coaching experiences, offering practical insights you can apply to your own leadership journey.
CHALLENGE:
I’m increasingly frustrated that my leadership team seems unable to make decisions without my input. I find myself pulled into meetings that should be able to run without me, copied on emails for basic approvals and consulted on matters that my directors should be capable enough to handle independently. I need to be focused more on growing the business, so this is costing me both time and money. How do I stop getting dragged back into the weeds?
MY GUIDANCE:
The ability to build a self-sufficient team isn't just about delegation, it's about creating an environment where independence is expected, but crucially it’s also enabled.
Many high-performing leaders inadvertently create dependency by being too available. I’ve spoken before about the influence of power dynamics, and consistent presence during problem-solving, while no doubt well-intentioned, may actually be subconsciously signalling to your team that they need your approval to proceed.
In this type of scenario these are the 4 steps you can take to establish a new pattern:
Redefine leadership engagement: clearly articulate when your input is truly needed versus when it's optional. Create explicit decision-making frameworks that show your team where and when they should act independently and when they should escalate.
‘Contract’ with individuals: Establish clear domains where directors know they have full decision-making power, areas where they should inform but not ask, and the few critical decisions that genuinely require your input. Mutually agree this and capture it in writing to remove ambiguity.
Treat failure as part of the learning curve: When a decision doesn't go perfectly without your input, focus coaching on the learning process rather than the outcome. Ask: "What would you do differently next time?" instead of stepping in with answers immediately.
Recognize the right kind of independent actions: When team members successfully navigate challenges without your intervention, acknowledge this specifically - “I noticed you handled the client escalation efficiently without needing my input. That's exactly the leadership I'm looking for.” Celebrate this publicly as well so it sends out a message to the wider team.
Building true self-sufficiency takes time. Expect initial discomfort - both yours and theirs. You might worry about quality control; they'll worry about making mistakes. This tension is not just normal, it's essential for growth. Just start getting the reps in and avoid the temptation to abandon things if you hit a few bumps in the road -that’s going to be an inherent part of the process.
Ready to take your leadership to the next level? Book a call by messaging me at jason@theprimemovement.com.
Be A Prime Mover: 1 Quote to Spark Change
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
— Maya Angelou
Send this to a fellow leader - they'll thank you for it.
