Jasmine explains that many entrepreneurs become leaders accidentally when business growth makes solo execution impossible. She rejects the assumption that leadership must come naturally and frames it as a skill that can be deliberately learned and improved.

Business growth can push founders into leadership before they feel ready.
Unintentional leaders often rely on hope instead of training.
Leadership can be learned like an instrument, language, or other skill.
Ongoing reading, coaching, and training can improve leadership ability.

“Leadership has to be learned.”
Jasmine Star · 00:00

“You can always learn how to get better.”
Jasmine Star · 00:50

#leadership#founders#learning

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take19:40

You Are Not Clever Enough to Fake Real Audience Connection

Jim argues that sustained audience connection is evidence that a message has already become real within the speaker to some degree. People can sense visible effort and self-convincing, so genuine resonance should count as evidence even when the speaker still doubts themselves.

Audiences often detect when a performer does not believe their message.
Connection suggests some embodied experience behind the communication.
Internal change can be real while still ongoing or deepening.
Self-doubt should not automatically invalidate external evidence.

“People don't buy it if it hasn't happened in us.”
Jim Zartman · 20:40

“you're not actually smart enough to fool people.”
Jim Zartman · 20:40

#authenticity#speaking#belief#audience

Explainer· 2

Explainer12:07

Curate a Public Self Without Exiling the Whole Person

Jim explains that leaders must present a coherent, digestible version of themselves, but problems arise when that necessary curation becomes permanent self-exile. Growth requires making room for a fuller private identity alongside the effective public persona.

Public communication requires some deliberate curation.
Total nuance would often be confusing or inaccessible to an audience.
Success can silence aspects of identity that later need reintegration.
A useful persona should not replace the person's fuller experience of self.

“what parts of yourself did you have to exile in order to be successful, to do the things that you wanted to do?”
Jim Zartman · 12:07

“you curate something specific so that it's digestible so that it brings people into what you do.”
Jim Zartman · 12:36

#identity#authenticity#leadership#communication

Explainer26:24

Why the Enneagram Six Is Better Framed as the Supporter

Jim explains why his team sometimes uses “supporter” rather than “loyalist” for Enneagram Sixes. The alternative emphasizes their concern with security and their reciprocal desire to give and receive support rather than implying blind loyalty.

The term loyalist can imply uncritical allegiance.
Supporters are strongly motivated by personal and collective security.
They often offer the kind of support they hope to receive.
Understanding this motivation can help leaders support client-facing employees.

“we've been using the term the supporter because that's really what they want. They want to give support and receive it.”
Jim Zartman · 26:36

“they're entirely motivated by security. Like, am I going to be okay and are we going to be okay and support.”
Jim Zartman · 26:36

#enneagram#support#security#motivation

Story· 3

Story00:50

The Employee Jasmine Was Afraid to Confront

Jasmine recounts hiring a highly capable employee who withheld details and hid mistakes. Fear of conflict—and even fear of being locked out of company systems—kept Jasmine from addressing the behavior, leaving both her standards and authority unclear.

Technical competence does not eliminate the need for transparency.
Conflict avoidance can stop leaders from enforcing legitimate standards.
Operational access concentrated in one employee can distort the power relationship.
Wanting to be liked can undermine necessary accountability.

“It was terrible of me not to hold my standards and speak my truth.”
Jasmine Star · 01:45

“I was afraid that she would lock me out of my own systems.”
Jasmine Star · 00:50

#accountability#conflict#founders#management

Story05:36

The New CFO Who Onboarded His Leaders

Before beginning annual forecasting, Jasmine's new CFO asked diagnostic questions about systems, communication, and profit priorities. His proactive inquiry accelerated his understanding while revealing that Jasmine and her existing CFO had different perspectives but strong alignment.

New hires can actively interview the team they are joining.
Scaled questions can reveal working and communication styles quickly.
Different perspectives can coexist with strong strategic and human alignment.
Curiosity during onboarding demonstrates intention and ownership.

“before we begin, he asked us a list of questions to expedite, like how quickly he could understand our working and our communication style.”
Jasmine Star · 05:36

“we are very different and we see things in two different perspectives, but we're very much in sync”
Jasmine Star · 06:28

#onboarding#communication#finance#teamwork

Story08:09

Why Jasmine Reconsidered Her Enneagram Identity

A leadership consultant challenged Jasmine's long-held identification as an Enneagram Three and proposed that she was a Seven. After initially resisting, she replayed the conversation, studied the consultant's material, and chose curiosity over defending her previous identity.

Corrective insight can initially feel disorienting.
Replaying a recorded conversation creates distance from immediate defensiveness.
Paying for expertise is wasted if every uncomfortable conclusion is rejected.
Self-discovery can change how a leader understands and supports a team.

“I'm not going to fight for a former version of me, and I'm not going to fight for a definition or classification.”
Jasmine Star · 14:04

“If becoming a better leader is about self-discovery, then there was no better place to start than right there.”
Jasmine Star · 09:50

#enneagram#self-awareness#coaching#leadership

Tool· 1

Tool11:36

Use Audio Playback to Hear Your Own Performance Clearly

Jasmine records coaching calls and later listens without watching the video. Removing visual presentation helps her notice vocal inflections, effort, and self-protective patterns that are harder to detect while seeing herself on screen.

Record important conversations when consent and context permit.
Replay audio separately from video.
Listen for strained inflection, overperformance, and unexplained word choices.
Third-person distance can improve self-observation.

“I have a harder time distilling BS for myself when I could see myself.”
Jasmine Star · 11:41

“hearing myself in third person is like very helpful for me to understand myself.”
Jasmine Star · 11:41

#self-awareness#audio#reflection#communication

Takeaway· 3

Takeaway02:40

Teach New Hires How the Company Behaves

Jasmine distinguishes functional onboarding from cultural onboarding. Her team scheduled focused conversations so a new sales director would learn not only what to do, but the standards, identity, and behaviors expected while doing it.

Role training explains what work to perform.
Cultural onboarding explains how the organization behaves.
Focused conversations make implicit standards explicit.
Early experiences show new leaders what the company truly rewards.

“getting somebody on board to know what to do is one thing. Teaching them how we behave is another teaching them our culture and what…”
Jasmine Star · 02:40

“she wasn't going to understand how we do things, but who we are as we do those things.”
Jasmine Star · 02:40

#onboarding#culture#hiring

Takeaway17:02

Own the Effort, Release the Outcome

Jasmine identifies three messages that resonate with entrepreneurs at radically different revenue levels: responsibility for effort rather than outcome, trust in the capacity to pursue a meaningful dream, and a preference for failure over regret. Their broad resonance suggests that core motivational tensions persist across business stages.

Effort is controllable while outcomes are not fully controllable.
A meaningful ambition can justify pursuit even without guaranteed achievement.
Failure can be easier to live with than untested regret.
Founders at different stages often need the same beliefs reinforced.

“we are responsible for the effort and not the outcome.”
Jasmine Star · 17:02

“it's better to live with failure than regret.”
Jasmine Star · 17:02

#effort#failure#belief#entrepreneurship

Takeaway32:35

Let Teams Experience Personality Training Before Reading Reports

Jim recommends letting Jasmine's highly analytical team experience the group session before receiving written personality reports. Text can feel cold and may cause people—especially improvement-oriented types—to fixate on weaknesses before understanding their gifts in context.

Written assessments can strip nuance from personality feedback.
Analytical employees may overstrategize before a session begins.
People often scan reports for deficiencies rather than strengths.
Conversation can establish context before participants read detailed results.

“I think with this group it might be better to just have the experience first and then like get the report on the back end”
Jim Zartman · 32:43

“They hyperfocus on the stuff that gets in the way”
Jim Zartman · 33:03

#personality#training#feedback#team-development

Frameworks in this episode

Hunter-Farmer-Teamer Role Design

Integrity-Based Commitment Loop

Purpose Beneath Performance Inquiry

Insights & moments

⚡Myth Buster· 1

Leadership Is Learned, Not an Entrepreneurial Instinct

◆Hot Take· 1