You can’t clock out from leadership
Being a leader is who you are, not what you do... Aristotle had a point
Hey there,
I was in Chicago over the weekend. My best friend's wedding, my nephew's birthday, and a bunch of old drinking buddies in town. It would've been easy to lean in. Late nights, a few drinks, zone out for a few days.
But I didn't. I got up early. I had very nice breakfasts. I stayed present. And, honestly, it felt good. Not in a smug way, just clear. Like I actually showed up for the stuff that mattered.
Lately I've been thinking a lot about what it means to lead well. Not just run a company, but lead. And I'm still learning. Still messing it up sometimes. Still trying to get better.
Don't worry, this didn't just turn into a stoicism newsletter. I'm not about to quote Meditations and tell you to journal at sunrise. But I do think the stories this week all point to something real: leadership shows up in the small choices. When it's inconvenient. When no one's watching. When things are quietly falling apart and you decide whether to engage or look away.
We've got a CEO who forgot the cameras are always rolling. A workforce burned out in silence. And a talent pool of ex-Big Tech stars who can thrive… if you set the tone early.
I'm working on being a better leader. These were the reminders I needed. Maybe you did too.
Let’s get into it.
🌐 News Shortlist
1. A Rush of Blood to the Head… of HR
Recap: At a Coldplay concert in Boston, Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot were caught on the kiss cam. Both are married. The video went viral, the internet exploded, and Byron resigned three days later. The company’s now “investigating.”
We've all seen the clip by now. The moment. The look on their faces. The Coldplay lyrics in the PR statement. It's bad.
And yeah, the guy clearly messed up. No one's arguing that. A CEO hanging out with his Chief People Officer in public while they're both married? That's a walking case study in poor judgment.
But the way people are fixating on this online is something else entirely. Post after post. Commentary layered with moral superiority. The outrage feels less about workplace ethics and more about feeding the algorithm. It's like we don't just want accountability and we want humiliation.
That's not leadership either.
Byron made a mistake. A serious one. But public shame isn't the same thing as real accountability.
And if you're using someone else's failure to boost your own engagement, maybe ask yourself who you're actually helping.
Also, let's be honest. The outrage worked. The guy lost his job. But it also gave him more publicity than any of his company's actual work. You'd never heard of Astronomer before this. Now you have.
Advice:
Aristotle said virtue isn't something you perform. It's a habit. A way of being, both in public and private. That's true for leadership too.
When you're running a company, you don't get to clock out. And if you mess up, the job is to own it. But if you’re just adding to the noise, don’t pretend you’re fixing anything.
2. You can’t grow with an unmotivated team
Recap: A new survey from meQuilibrium shows what most managers already feel but rarely say out loud: the workforce is exhausted. Pessimism is up. Stress is everywhere. And the result? $9.6 trillion in lost productivity. Gallup data backs it up, most managers are disengaged themselves. And when the people leading your team don’t care, neither will your team.
It's become kind of fashionable to say "we don't need HR." Just ship. Just hire. Just cut. But then is where you start to see the cracks.
Because what you actually need (especially in tough cycles) is someone like Wendy from Billions. A coach. A therapist. Someone who knows when your best engineer is silently falling apart, or when your star PM is one feedback loop away from checking out.
I think about people like Pablo on our team, the kind of leader who actually listens. Who knows when someone on the team is off, and makes time to care.
These people aren’t following a playbook. They pick up these things because it's who they are. That's the kind of person who protects your culture. And your bottom line.
Founders talk a lot about runway. But what about the hidden cost of disengagement? That layoff you're planning might cut 10% of your spend. But what happens when it tanks morale and productivity drops 30% across the board? You saved $200K on headcount and lost a million in momentum. I hope the calculation was worth it.
This is why onboarding matters. Why cultural fit matters. Why realism is good, but contagious pessimism is lethal.
You don't need blind optimism. You need people who default to action. Who believe problems can be solved, not just posted about. You can't fake that. You have to hire for it. Reinforce it. Protect it.
Advice:
Talk to your people. Not just about work. Actually talk to them. Because if they don’t know each other, they won’t care about each other. And if they don’t care about each other, no one’s going to help when things get hard. That’s how lonely cultures form, and lonely teams don’t win.
Also, Costa Rica and Mexico were just ranked the happiest countries in the Americas, ahead of the US. Might be worth learning a thing or two from them. If you're hiring, I can help. Let's talk.
3. Big Tech laid them off, now you can hire them
Recap: At a recent Seattle tech event, founders and VCs said the waves of laid-off talent from Big Tech is creating a “dream candidate” pool for startups. Engineers and PMs from Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are suddenly on the market. Some are already founding their own companies. For the rest, startups willing to move fast can hire talent that would’ve been out of reach just a year ago.
This is the upside of the downturn. When the giants struggle, top talent becomes available. And for startups, that’s a gift… if you know how to handle it.
Just be careful. Not every ex-Googler is ready to build like a founder. Some haven’t touched production code in a while. Some are used to shipping slowly, perfectly, and with five layers of review. That’s fine at a multimillion dollar company. But if you plug that into an early-stage team with five engineers and no margin for over-architecture, it can slow you down fast.
That doesn’t mean don’t hire them. It means set the bar, set the tone, and set the expectations. Be upfront: this is a messy build. We ship fast, fix in prod, and learn on the fly. If they’re excited about that, great. If they’re not, better to find out early.
And remember, if someone spent five years at Google, it’s not like they’re a dummy. It’s harder to get into Facebook than Harvard. But polish isn’t the same as startup-readiness. You can teach someone to move fast. You can’t teach someone to care.
A good mix is the goal. Pair startup scrappers with polished scalers and you get velocity and quality. That’s where magic happens. The ex-Big Tech folks bring systems thinking. The ex-founder types bring chaos tolerance. You need both.
Advice:
Big Tech is letting go of some of the talent it’s been gatekeeping. That’s tough for the people affected, no question. But for startups, it opens a door.
More ideas get built when great people leave big companies and start something new. You can’t control the storm, but you can control what you do next.
🔎 Remote Jobs Shortlist
These are the new openings my clients have this week.
Even if you’re not hiring, it’s worth seeing what roles great companies are opening and what that says about where things are headed. Check out the full list here.
1. Director of Operations and Customer Service
A luxury fashion company that's redefining premium tailoring is hiring a Director of Operations and Customer Service.
This role sits at the heart of the business. Leading a global team, shaping internal systems, and turning operational chaos into excellence. You'll oversee everything from fulfillment to client experience across email, phone, and showroom scheduling. The customer service team spans the US, Philippines, and South America, and you'll be the one setting KPIs, building SOPs, and ensuring white-glove service across the board.
They're looking for someone who's led ops in a DTC or retail environment (fashion is a big plus), and who can roll out tools like CRMs, help desks, and automations. If you've ever scaled support teams, managed order logistics, and know what it takes to deliver 5-star service at scale, this might be your shot.
💵 $4,000 - $5,000 USD/month
📍LatAm Remote
2. Senior iOS Developer
A top-tier digital agency working with global sports clients is hiring a Senior iOS Developer.
You'll build sleek, scalable, consumer-facing apps in Swift and SwiftUI, with a tech stack that includes Combine, UIKit, and the latest iOS SDKs. This team is all about quality. Expect to write clean code, collaborate with designers and product managers, and help shape architecture across high-traffic mobile experiences. Bonus points if you've worked in sports or media.
You must be based in LATAM and bring 5+ years of experience in native iOS development. If you've shipped products at scale, love problem solving, and want to work with a remote-first team delivering premium digital experiences, this one's worth a look.
💵 $4,500 - $5,500 USD/month
📍Remote LatAm
3. Solutions Engineer
A US-based fintech startup is building next-gen low-code infrastructure for banks and financial institutions, and they're hiring a Solutions Engineer to help shape it.
You'll work on API integrations (REST, XML), develop tools using platforms like Retool, WeWeb, Xano, or Airtable, and collaborate with external providers and internal engineers to ship faster, smarter financial products. If you've worked with JavaScript, React, and MongoDB, and enjoy building systems that scale with minimal code, this one's for you.
They're looking for someone curious, self-directed, and excited to build inside a high-growth, VC-backed startup.
💵$3,000 - $3,600 USD/month
📍LatAm Remote
That’s it for this week.
If something in here made you pause, rethink, or nod quietly at your screen, I’d love to hear it. Always curious what you’re seeing from your corner of the world.
And if you’re hiring in Latin America, I’m available for a call.
Until next time,
Joseph Burns
CEO & Founder, Lupa