My Biggest Mistakes as a Leader And What They Taught Me About Real Leadership

Leadership isn't about the title on your business card.

It's not about barking orders from behind the front desk or thinking you know better than everyone else. Real leadership is about how you show up every single day, how you communicate with your team, and how you grow others while you're growing yourself.

I learned this the hard way over 30 years of running salons and coaching thousands of owners. And here's the thing - I made plenty of leadership mistakes that cost me time, energy, and sometimes trust with my team.

Every salon owner I coach goes through similar struggles. So today I want to share the biggest leadership lessons I've learned so you can avoid the same pitfalls and build a stronger, more empowered team.

1. Delegation Is Not Just Passing Off Tasks

When I was building my first salon, I thought delegation meant handing someone a task and walking away. I figured they'd understand the job exactly like I did.

Spoiler alert: they didn't.

Real delegation requires crystal-clear communication. You need to answer three questions every time you delegate:

• What exactly needs to be done?
• What does success look like?
• Why does this task matter to the bigger picture?

This is where my DRIP Matrix comes in handy. It helps you systematically delegate tasks while maintaining quality and accountability. I also started using what I call the 10/80/10 Rule with my team. Spend 10% of your time explaining the task, 80% watching them work through it, and 10% reviewing results.

Here's what I like to do: I use the Camcorder Method and record myself doing the task. A quick screen recording or video explaining the how and the why makes a huge difference. This approach saved me countless hours and headaches.

2. Always Explain the "Why" Behind the Task

One of the biggest mistakes I see salon owners make is only telling their team what to do, without explaining why.

When people understand the reason behind a task, they make better decisions on their own. They don't need you breathing down their neck every step of the way.

That's why I always say, "Inspect what you expect." But inspection has to be tied to the vision. When you connect tasks to your salon's bigger purpose, your team members start thinking like owners. They know why their work matters and they take ownership.

This is critical if you want to avoid doing everything yourself and actually scale your business.

3. Empower Problem Solvers, Not Problem Reporters

Early in my leadership journey, I got frustrated when my team would come to me stuck on a problem and wait for me to fix it.

Over time, I realized this was a leadership failure on my part. I wasn't teaching them how to solve problems.

I developed a simple framework I call the 1-3-1 rule to empower my team:

• Identify 1 key issue causing 80% of the problem
• Brainstorm 3 possible solutions
• Choose 1 best solution and take action

This framework turned my team from bottlenecks into problem solvers. It gave them confidence to make decisions and reduced the constant interruptions I was dealing with.

This approach aligns perfectly with the accountability principles in EOS, where every team member owns their role and delivers results. And when your team can solve problems without you, that's when you start building real wealth.

4. Work ON Your Business, Not Just IN It

This one comes straight from the E-Myth philosophy I teach all my coaching clients.

For years, I was stuck in what Michael Gerber calls the technician trap - doing all the work myself, thinking it saved time. But here's the thing: no business scales when the owner is the bottleneck.

Learning to step back and work ON my salon business - improving systems, leadership, and culture - was a real turning point. I started holding regular Level 10 meetings and setting Rocks to keep my team accountable and aligned.

When you lead from a place of vision and strategy instead of just reacting to daily fires, your team thrives and your business grows. This is exactly what we focus on in the Level Up Academy - teaching you how to build systems that run without you.

The Leadership Mindset Shift That Changes Everything

Here's what I've learned after coaching thousands of salon owners: most leadership problems come from a scarcity mindset.

You think if you delegate too much, you'll lose control. You think if you empower your team too much, they'll leave you. You think if you step back from the day-to-day, everything will fall apart.

But abundance thinking works the opposite way. When you invest in your team's growth, when you create systems that empower them, when you give them ownership - that's when they become invested in your success.

It's a win-win for everybody. Your team feels valued and grows their skills. Your clients get better service. And you get your time and energy back to focus on what really moves the needle.

What Real Leadership Looks Like

Real leadership in a salon means your team can run a great client experience whether you're there or not. It means your stylists feel confident making decisions. It means problems get solved quickly without everything coming back to you.

But this doesn't happen overnight. It requires consistent communication, clear expectations, and the patience to let people learn and grow. Some days it's going to test your patience and your confidence.

And if you're struggling with team dynamics or finding that your salon culture is costing you money in turnover, these leadership principles become even more critical.

Your Next Step

Leadership isn't easy. I'm going to be straight with you - it will challenge everything you think you know about running a salon.

But if you commit to learning from your mistakes, communicating clearly, and empowering your team, you can build a salon business that runs without you. This is the kind of leadership that lasts.

If you want to dive deeper into these principles and learn how to build a leadership system that actually works, I teach all of this inside the Level Up Academy masterclasses. It's where salon owners learn how to grow their business, their team, and their life on their terms.

Keep Reading

• What Does a Real Salon Turnaround Actually Look Like? (4 Case Studies From Inside Level Up)
• Why Does Your Salon Team Walk All Over You?
• Why Do Your Best Stylists Keep Leaving for Suites?

Want to Go Deeper?

I recorded a video that goes deeper on this topic. Watch it here: How to Stop Carrying Your Team and Start Leading Like a CEO

If you want the complete system for running your salon like a real business, check out The Mastery Bundle. It's four masterclasses with ready-to-use templates that cover everything from financials to team building to marketing.

Keep Reading: 7 Patterns That Separate Successful Salon Owners

Free Tool: Want to know where your salon really stands? Take the Salon CEO Scorecard. 15 questions, 5 minutes, instant results.