9 leaders on what they’d change about managing staff

Leadership and management lessons aren’t always figured out off the bat. Making some mistakes and realizing that what works for you doesn’t work for everyone else is valuable. It’s impossible to go back and change the past, but you can think through how you manage now and see if it’s still effective. We asked our Fast Company Impact Council members about their staff management lessons and how their approach has evolved. Their insights can help you lead your staff better without having to make those same mistakes yourself. Here’s what nine Impact Council members shared—hard earned pearls of wisdom.

1. ALIGN ON GOALS

Earlier in my career, I sometimes moved so quickly that I didn’t always pause to clearly define what success looked like for my team. When people don’t have clarity on objectives and KPIs, it can lead to wasted effort and frustration. Taking the time to align on goals not only empowers people to do their best work, it also reduces the need to micromanage and builds a much healthier team culture. I’ve also learned that constructive criticism should be balanced with encouragement and recognition. — Muneer Panjwani, Engage for Good

2. DELEGATE EARLIER

I would have delegated earlier and with more trust—not just tasks but real ownership. Early in management, it is easy to hold tightly to the methods that helped you succeed. Over time, you learn that growth requires letting go of control, and that creates room for others to lead. People will not do things exactly the way you would, but that is not a flaw. When you give someone space to solve problems their own way, supported by coaching and clear guardrails, you are investing in their confidence and future. That is how you build a team with depth, strengthen succession, and create a culture where people feel seen, trusted, and capable. — Mike Sewell, Gresham Smith

3. SLOW DOWN HIRING

I wouldn’t have been so quick to expand staff based upon the expressed desires of other staff. I have found that employees will sometimes slightly overemphasize the need for new staff for reasons that don’t necessarily work to the company’s benefit. It could be that they want to ease their workload, could hire people they’ve told that they could hire, or simply feel their role and career will be more important with a bigger staff. I’ve had teams of five to eight people doing the work that easily could have been done, possibly better, by two to three good people. — Eric Basu, Haiku, Inc.

4. MORE STRUCTURE, EARLIER

I’d give more structure earlier. My instinct as a founder has always been to manage the way I’d want to be managed. For me, that’s high autonomy, lots of freedom, trust by default. And for the right people, that works beautifully. But I’ve learned the hard way that not everyone thrives with a blank canvas. Some people genuinely do better with clearer guardrails, more frequent check-ins, and explicit expectations. — Lindsey Witmer Collins, WLCM Software Studio and Scribbly Books

5. CLARITY IS KINDNESS

Earlier in my career, I sometimes lived with misalignment for too long, hoping performance issues would resolve themselves instead of confronting them directly. I’ve learned over time that clarity is kindness. If the strategy is clear but the team isn’t aligned to deliver it, that’s on the leader. Now I move faster to align people to the mission, because transformative moments require A+ players who believe in where you’re going and can execute efficiently. — Chris Ball, 6sense

6. TEAM SHOULD REIMAGINE WORK

I’d have challenged my team to reimagine how we work from first principles much sooner. For years we refined and optimized existing processes, which felt responsible but kept us anchored to old assumptions. The biggest unlock as a leader has been giving people permission to question everything about how we deliver value and rebuild from scratch. It sounds obvious, but most organizations keep layering improvements on top of methods that were designed for a completely different era. The breakthroughs come when you stop iterating on the old and start building the new. — Peter Smart, Fantasy

7. LEAD WITH EMPATHY

I wish I had led with more empathy and consideration for the whole person. In my early career, I emulated what I witnessed other managers do, which was to create strict professional boundaries and expectations. In reality, great leadership requires you to honor the whole person, and show grace towards whatever challenges they have outside of work: parenting, caretaking, illness, etc. — Bo Zhao, Baby Gear Group

8. CHALLENGE STATUS QUO

I would have encouraged employees to challenge traditional boundaries, question the status quo, and be open to reimagining established practices. Progress comes from daring to do things differently, and I believe that if something has always been done a certain way, that’s exactly the reason to ask if there’s a better approach. If I could go back, I would have fostered that mindset even earlier. I’ve seen firsthand how teams rise when they’re supported in dismantling those artificial ceilings that limit how they see their roles, growth and impact. — Melissa Puls, Ivanti

9. VALUE HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS

I would have pivoted sooner from valuing pedigree to human consciousness. AI has rendered academic credentials obsolete. Much like Palantir’s shift away from degrees, the old hierarchy is collapsing. At the bread and butter, we use AI to automate the repetitive, but this taught us a profound lesson: The ultimate skill now is “the proof of being human.” My management focus is now ensuring our team holds the master key to context and empathy. We treat AI as a tool, freeing our people to architect soulful narratives that machines cannot replicate. Leading now means balancing automated logic with irreplaceable human wisdom. — Sooyoung Cho, the bread and butter brand consulting LLC