Jackson: You know, most leadership books are selling a bit of a lie. They promise to turn you into this 'visionary' or 'transformational' figure overnight. Olivia: Right, they sell you the highlight reel. The big keynote speech, the game-changing decision. They don't sell you the 9 p.m. panic attack over a project deadline. Jackson: Exactly! What if the first, most brutal step to becoming a great leader is just learning how to survive the week without having a complete meltdown? Olivia: That is precisely the uncomfortable truth at the heart of the book we're diving into today: Leadership Two Words at a Time by Bill Treasurer. It’s written for the leaders who aren't trying to go from good to great yet; they're just trying to survive until Friday. Jackson: I already feel seen. So what’s the story with this author, Bill Treasurer? Olivia: Well, this is where it gets really interesting. Before he was a top leadership consultant for huge organizations like NASA and Accenture, he was a professional high-diver. Jackson: Wait, like, off a cliff? Olivia: Pretty much. He performed over 1,500 high dives from heights of more than 100 feet. So when he talks about courage and taking risks, he’s not just using a business-school metaphor. He’s lived it. He’s the originator of a practice he calls 'courage-building' in organizations. Jackson: Wow. So he's literally an expert on taking a leap of faith. How does that translate into a book about leadership? Does he just tell everyone to jump? Olivia: Not exactly. His whole premise is that leadership is overcomplicated. He argues that the most essential truths can be distilled into simple, memorable two-word concepts. But the very first leap you have to take isn't off a platform, it's an internal one.

Jackson: Okay, I’m intrigued. Where does he start? Olivia: He starts with a very provocative question, aimed right at the heart of anyone who’s just been promoted. He says, and I’m quoting here, "Not to be harsh, but if you can’t lead yourself, what qualifies you to lead others?" Jackson: Ouch. That stings a little. I thought leadership was about managing other people. This sounds more like a self-help retreat. Olivia: And that’s the trap! We think leadership is an external act, but Treasurer argues it's an internal discipline first. His first section is called "Leading Yourself." He tells this story that I think perfectly captures the danger of ignoring this. It’s about an executive, let's call him John, who gets promoted. He’s brilliant, driven, a star performer. Jackson: The classic promotion story. Olivia: Exactly. And he does what most new leaders do: he pours everything into the job. He works 14-hour days, skips meals, misses family events. He’s all-in on leading the work and the team. But he completely neglects leading himself. Jackson: I think I know where this is going. Burnout city. Olivia: Worse than that. His health tanks, he becomes irritable, his decision-making gets sloppy, and his team starts to suffer because their leader is a stressed-out wreck. He’s sabotaging his own leadership, not because of a business failure, but because of self-neglect. The book makes it clear: this is the real danger for new leaders. Jackson: That’s a powerful point. It’s not about failing the team; it’s about failing yourself first, which then causes you to fail the team. So what are the two-word solutions here? "Sleep More"? "Eat Salad"? Olivia: (Laughs) It’s a bit deeper than that, though "Gain Control" is one of his phrases, and it covers self-care. The first two words are "Know Thyself." It's about understanding your values, your triggers, your fears. Another is "Practice Humility," which is about managing the ego that can inflate with a new title. He even includes what he calls a "Leadership Oath," which is a promise to be faithful to yourself. Jackson: A leadership oath? That sounds intense. Olivia: It is! It’s a personal commitment to check your own motivations, to use your privileges for good, and to guard against ego. It reframes leadership not as a title you hold, but as a standard you have to live up to, starting with how you treat yourself. It’s the foundation. Without it, everything else crumbles. Jackson: Okay, that makes sense. You have to build your own house before you can invite anyone else in. So once your own house is in some kind of order, what’s next?

Olivia: Well, once you've started to get a handle on your own internal chaos, the next massive challenge is creating an environment where other people feel safe from both your chaos and the world's. This brings us to the second part of the book: "Leading People." Jackson: Ah, the main event. This is what people think of when they hear the word 'leadership.' Olivia: Right, but Treasurer’s angle is, again, deceptively simple. He says leadership is defined by followership. His quote is, "If you claim to be a leader and you turn around and nobody is following you, you’re not a leader. You’re just out for a walk." Jackson: I love that. So how do you get people to follow you, according to the book? Olivia: It boils down to two core ideas. The first is "Trust First." You have to extend trust before you can expect to receive it. The second, and this is a huge concept in modern workplaces, is "Create Safety." He means psychological safety—an environment where people feel safe enough to be vulnerable, to take risks, to speak up, and even to fail without fear of punishment. Jackson: Psychological safety is one of those terms I hear all the time, but it can feel a bit fuzzy. How does he make it concrete? Olivia: He makes it concrete by showing the brutal consequences of its absence. The analysis in the book points to this devastating 2016 study on what’s called "resume whitening." Jackson: Resume whitening? What’s that? Olivia: Researchers sent out identical resumes for entry-level jobs. The only difference was that some resumes had racial cues—like a name that sounded stereotypically Black or Asian, or an extracurricular activity like "Black Student Union." The other resumes were "whitened"—the names were changed to sound more white, and those activities were removed. Jackson: Oh no. Let me guess the results. Olivia: They were even worse than you’d think. The resumes with racial cues got significantly fewer callbacks. But here’s the most damning part: the study found that even at companies that had explicit diversity and inclusion statements on their websites, they were still twice as likely to call back the "whitened" resumes. Jackson: That is infuriating. It proves that just saying 'we value diversity' is completely meaningless corporate jargon. Olivia: Exactly. And this is where Treasurer’s two-word imperative "Promote Inclusion" becomes so critical. It’s not a passive state of being; it's an active, constant job for a leader. Creating safety means actively fighting against these biases, both in the system and in yourself. It means ensuring that the person with the "whitened" resume feels safe enough to eventually "un-whiten" it once they're on your team. That’s real psychological safety. Jackson: Wow. That story just took the concept from a fuzzy HR buzzword and made it incredibly real and urgent. It’s not about being nice; it’s about actively building a shield against the world’s unfairness for your team. Olivia: That’s the job. You’re building a space where courage can exist. And that’s a direct line from his high-diving past—you can’t ask someone to take a courageous leap if you haven't first checked that the water below is deep enough and free of rocks.

Jackson: Okay, so you've managed yourself, you've created a safe team... but you still have to actually, you know, do the work and get results. The business doesn't run on trust falls alone. Olivia: (Laughs) It certainly does not. And that’s the final, and perhaps most grounding, section of the book: "Leading Work." This is where Treasurer gets brutally practical. He has this fantastic, blunt quote: "Leaders lead people and people can be a pain in the rear end." Jackson: Finally, someone just says it! Olivia: He acknowledges that leadership is hard because people are complicated. But your job isn't just to manage their feelings; it's to get things done. He argues that you were put in a leadership role for a reason: to produce results. Jackson: This is the part that often gets forgotten in the inspirational leadership talks. It's the unglamorous, spreadsheet-and-deadline part of the job. Olivia: Precisely. And he says you have to embrace it. One of his two-word phrases is "Love Business." He argues that your leadership will truly take off when you start to genuinely enjoy the complexities and challenges of the work itself. It’s not just about people; it’s about processes, strategies, and finances. Jackson: So it’s about being a good manager, not just a good leader. Olivia: Yes! He makes the point that good leadership requires good management. You can’t be a great leader if you’re terrible at the basics. So he has phrases like "Get Results," "Master Management," and "Set Goals." It’s about clarifying expectations, holding people accountable, and acting like an owner of the business. It’s the engine room of leadership. It might not be as sexy as the view from the bridge, but without it, the ship goes nowhere. Jackson: It’s a really holistic view, then. It’s not just one thing. It’s this constant juggling act between your own head, your team’s hearts, and the company’s bottom line. Olivia: That’s the perfect way to put it. It’s a three-front war you’re fighting every single day.

Jackson: So when you put it all together—Leading Yourself, Leading People, and Leading Work—it feels less like a list of tips and more like a complete philosophy. Olivia: It really is. And it’s not a linear path where you master one and move to the next. It’s a constant, dynamic balancing act. On any given day, you're managing your own psychology, the psychology of your team, and the mechanics of the work, all at once. The two-word phrases aren't a magic formula; they're anchors to hold onto in the storm. Jackson: That’s a great image. So if a listener is a new manager, feeling totally swamped right now, what's the one two-word phrase from this book they should tape to their monitor tomorrow morning? Olivia: That’s a tough one. There are so many good ones. But if I had to pick one that encapsulates the author's spirit, especially with his high-diving background, it would be the final words of the book: "Be Courageous." Jackson: I like that. It’s not about being perfect; it’s about being brave enough to try. Olivia: Exactly. It’s the courage to lead yourself honestly, the courage to trust your people, and the courage to make the tough calls to get the work done. So maybe the final takeaway for everyone listening is a reflective question. Jackson: Let's hear it. Olivia: Based on everything we've talked about, what's the one two-word promise you need to make to yourself as a leader this week? It could be "Gain Control," "Create Safety," or just "Be Courageous." Jackson: A powerful question to end on. It brings it all back to that first, most important step: leading yourself. Olivia: This is Aibrary, signing off.