Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

April 8, 2026

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published Monday to Friday, equipping you to achieve your professional goals faster and without burnout or overwhelm.

She was older than me. And stronger than most.

Howdy ,

Yesterday I mentioned a Sunday night conversation with someone who worked with me 15 years ago. Let me go deeper into that story.

When she joined my team, she was older than me.

Not by a little.

And she had a personality to match - bold, forceful, direct. The kind of person who makes her voice heard.

I could try to manage her the typical “boss style”. Soften the edges. Establish who was in charge. Make it clear that regardless of age or personality, I was the leader and she should adapt.

The usual stuff.

Not my way.

I looked at what she actually was…and it was not a problem to be managed. It was a force to be directed.

Her boldness was not a liability. It was her winning nature. The same quality that could make her difficult to lead was the exact quality that made her good at her job.

I figured out how to position her where that strength could do its best work.

And she?

She learnt to trust me.

First as a person.

Then as her leader.

And once that trust was established, she performed.

Here is what I learned from that experience:

The leaders who build the strongest teams are not the ones who find the most talented people.

They are the ones who create the conditions where the people they have can become their best.

That is not a talent acquisition strategy.

It is a leadership identity question.

And it is the hardest one most leaders never stop to ask.

Tomorrow I will share the question I now use to diagnose whether I am leading someone…or just managing around them.

Keep winning at work and in life,

Tola Akinsulire

Your Strategic Workplace Mentor