Last spring, I had 47 seconds of footage on my phone of my dog Pop-Tart being terrible.
Barking at the neighbor through the front window. Shredding a throw pillow. Knocking over the kitchen trash. I'd whip my phone out every time he misbehaved and hit record — partly to send to my wife, partly because I was building a case against him in my own head for a future trainer.
Then one Tuesday, I scrolled through my camera roll and realized something embarrassing: I had zero clips of him doing anything good.
None of him sitting calmly. None of him on a walk. None of the moments he was, by all measures, a great dog. I'd built a highlight reel of everything wrong and put zero effort into capturing what was right.
That's not a dog problem. That's a leadership problem.
I call it the Negative Highlight Reel — the case file leaders unconsciously build on their team. We schedule the meeting when the numbers slip. We have "the talk" when someone's struggling. We document the problem with a precision we never bring to the wins.
Meanwhile, the wins go unfilmed.
Drew Maddux took over a losing basketball program at Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville and turned them into one of the best in Tennessee.
When I asked him on the podcast how he flipped it, his answer stopped me: "I spoke to every kid in the program as if they were already champions."
Not someday. Already.
He was building a Champion Highlight Reel before there was a single championship to point to. The kids eventually became what he kept calling them.
Your team is doing the same thing. They are becoming whichever reel you're building.
This week — before your next 1:1 — do this: Pick one person on your team. Write down three specific things you've watched them do well in the last two weeks.
Not "good attitude." Specific.
- "You handled the Henderson pushback on Tuesday's call without flinching."
- "You rewrote the proposal cover page on your own initiative."
- "You stayed late to walk the new rep through the CRM."
Then tell them. In the 1:1. Out loud. Before you discuss anything else.
That's it. One person. Three specifics. Said before the meeting drifts into problems.
Because the reel you're building is the team you're going to lead.