Build with Leila Hormozi – Ep. 340

Title: Are You Accidentally Training Your Team The Wrong Stuff?
Date: March 10, 2026
Host: Leila Hormozi

Episode Overview

In this episode, Leila Hormozi explores how leaders may inadvertently train their teams to behave and communicate in unproductive ways, not through overt direction but through consistent, often overlooked behaviors and the selective reinforcement (or lack thereof) of actions within their teams. Drawing from personal experience and psychological principles, Leila breaks down why simply setting expectations isn’t enough—what you reinforce and model daily has the most powerful, lasting effect on your team's habits, engagement, and culture.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Accidental Training of Teams

• New Executive Team Dynamics (00:14)
  • Leila shares her recent experience onboarding six new executives, highlighting a rapid period of adjustment and the need to reset expectations for her leadership team.
  • She introduced her top expectations for executives and underscores the critical value of “visibility”—leaders being active, present, and vocal within their teams.
• Memorable Quote:
  “You can say whatever you want, but you show your team by how you behave.” – Leila (03:32)

2. Leadership Story: When Good Leaders Train the Wrong Behaviors

• Case of ‘Lucy’: The Invisible Leader (02:44)
  • Lucy, a high-performing VP of Customer Success, had stellar metrics but her team started surfacing problems far too late.
  • Investigation revealed that Lucy was only “visible” during crises, leading her team to only bring up issues once they became fires.
• Behavioral Lesson:
  • “She showed up for problems. She disappeared when progress was being made.” (05:38)

3. The Power of Modeling and Reinforcement

• Zoom Call Realization (07:11)
  • Leila tells a formative story from 2016, noticing her team’s disengagement on remote calls. Despite giving direct feedback, behavior didn’t change—until Leila looked at herself and noticed she was modeling the same disengagement.
  • Changing her own approach to meetings (showing up prepared, energetic, and present) rapidly shifted her team’s behavior without any new policy.
• Behavioral Psychology Explained (10:25)
  • People—like animals—learn primarily through consequences.
    • If I do X and get a good result, I’ll repeat it.
    • If I do X and nothing happens, the behavior dies off.
  • “If a dog only gets your attention when it barks, … you just trained your dog to bark a lot. That is what most leaders do.” (11:54)

4. Three Common Ways Leaders Reinforce the Wrong Behavior

• A. Accidental Extinction (16:10)
  • When new, half-formed ideas are met with indifference or minimal acknowledgment, people stop bringing them forward.
  • “If you stop what you're doing, … you just reinforced early communication and ideas. … But if you’re distracted or indifferent, that behavior fades.”
• B. Punishment by Visibility (18:32)
  • When leaders only show up during problems, their presence becomes associated with bad news—leading teams to hide issues or avoid open communication.
  • “Invisible leadership is punishment-based leadership, even if you never yell or mean harm. The only time people see you is when things go wrong.”
• C. Reinforcing the Wrong Behavior (20:10)
  • By giving the most attention (airtime and energy) to underperformers or the loudest, most problematic team members, leaders set the culture to reward acting out and disregard consistent high performance.
  • “In the past, I used to give a lot of attention to underperformers. … And I was like, oh my God. I’m just feeding the loop.” (21:42)

5. What Real Visibility Means

• Debunking the Visibility Myth (23:05)
  • True leadership visibility isn’t about instant responsiveness or 24/7 availability—it's about proactively reaching out to your team before issues arise.
• Visibility Tactics
  • Leila recommends “walks” (two 30-minute blocks weekly) for leaders to proactively engage with team members, check in, and create opportunities for early, low-stakes communication.
  • Example: This small shift led to a previously silent team raising issues earlier and collaborating better within one month.
• Notable Quote:
  “She started showing up … during normal moments, not just when things were going wrong. … [Her] team learned that speaking up early is welcome, that speaking in general is safe.” (27:04)

6. Proactive Context Sharing: The Overlooked High-Leverage Move

• The Problem with Leader Silence (28:44)
  • When leaders “disappear” into strategy or execution and stop sharing what’s top of mind, teams become anxious, start guessing priorities, and potentially waste effort.
  • “Silence from a leader does not create a calm culture. It creates so much chaos, … so much angst on your team.” (31:35)
• Solution:
  • Proactively share what you’re working on, key priorities, and current thinking—even a brief weekly Slack post or Loom video suffices.
  • “The easiest thing you can do here is tell your fucking team what you’re doing and what is on your mind.” (32:40)
• Time Management Reframe:
  • Leaders often claim they don't have time for proactive communication.
  • Leila challenges this: “How much time did you spend last month cleaning up a problem … that could have been caught in a two minute conversation?” (34:22)

7. Culture by Design, Not Default

• Actionable Takeaways (36:05)
  • Show up before you’re needed. Block proactive time for informal interactions.
  • Reinforce early communications. Praise and encourage bringing up even half-baked ideas.
  • Share context with your team before they have to ask. Don’t let silence breed confusion.
  • Audit your reinforcement. Ask yourself, “What am I actually reinforcing by when and how I show up?”
• Final Reflection:
  “The best leaders don’t build cultures where people perform out of fear. They build cultures where performing is the natural thing to do because every piece of the environment reinforces it.” (39:22)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You can say whatever you want, but you show your team by how you behave.” (03:32)
• "She showed up for problems. She disappeared when progress was being made." (05:38)
• "If a dog only gets your attention when it barks… you just trained your dog to bark a lot. That is what most leaders do." (11:54)
• “Invisible leadership is punishment-based leadership—even if you never yell, even if you’re never mean...” (18:52)
• "Silence from a leader does not create a calm culture. It creates so much chaos, so much anxiety, so much angst on your team." (31:35)
• "People put way too much validity on problem solving and not enough on problem preventing. This is problem prevention." (35:04)
• "You're training your team every day. The question isn't whether you're training them—because you are. It's whether you're doing it on purpose." (39:00)
• "The best leaders… build cultures where performing is the natural thing to do because every piece of the environment reinforces it. And that is not micromanagement. That is designing a smart organization." (39:22)

Suggested Implementation Checklist

• Block 30-minute windows twice weekly for proactive visibility.
  “Just 30 minutes twice a week to ask people how their fucking day is going.” (27:44)
• Reinforce and thank early, even imperfect, communication.
• Share your priorities and focus with your team before they have to ask.
• Regularly reflect: “What behavior does my attention reinforce?”

Tone & Style Notes

• Direct, unfiltered, and pragmatic.
• Heavy use of personal anecdotes for relatability.
• Frequent swearing for emphasis and authenticity.

For leaders, new managers, or anyone seeking to build healthy team cultures, this episode is a crash course in the psychology of organizational behavior—spotlighting the profound impact of seemingly “small” leadership habits.