21 Apr The S-Bomb They Don’t Tell You: Amayea Maat on the Messy Craft of Leadership
Jeff Crilley sits down with Amayea Maat, Owner and Chief Inspiration Officer of Growth Peaks, on the launch day of her new book Leadership: The S Bomb That They Don't Tell You. Amayea draws on her extensive Fortune 100 coaching experience to explain why leadership is a separate craft from domain expertise—and why most new leaders never get trained in it. She walks through the situational leadership model, explaining how understanding your people's language and needs matters far more than imposing your own style. The conversation covers imposter syndrome among young leaders, the emotional weight of entrepreneurship, and a candid coaching story about helping a stuck IT business owner develop repeatable processes and ultimately sell his company. Jeff and Amayea also riff on why brilliant founders need to delegate what they're bad at, using Jerry Jones as a good-natured cautionary tale. Amayea's core message is refreshingly direct: if you can't lead yourself through life's ups and downs, why would anyone want to follow you?
Key Topics
- leadership as a separate craft from domain expertise
- the situational leadership model
- imposter syndrome for new and young leaders
- adapting your management style to each employee
- knowing your strengths and delegating your weaknesses
- coaching entrepreneurs through emotional roadblocks
- the Jerry Jones problem with controlling everything
Episode Timestamps
- 01:20 – Amayea explains why she wrote the book
- 02:15 – "You've got to hold the souls of your people"
- 02:45 – The kinds of leaders Amayea loves to coach
- 03:25 – Why leadership is a craft separate from domain expertise
- 04:20 – Situational leadership: understanding people, not yourself
- 05:20 – NFL coaches and adapting style to each player
- 06:50 – "I'm just gonna tell you the shit that nobody else tells you"
- 07:30 – Addressing imposter syndrome with compassion
- 08:15 – Coaching story: helping an IT owner sell his business
- 09:45 – "The fish stinks at the head" — why leader stress permeates
- 10:30 – Jerry Jones gets some unsolicited leadership advice
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Episode Chapters
- 00:00 – Introduction
- 01:20 – Meet Amayea Maat and Her New Book
- 01:41 – Why Leaders Fail
- 03:22 – Leadership as a Craft
- 04:13 – Adapting Your Leadership Style
- 05:21 – Understanding and Connecting with Employees
- 06:10 – The S Bomb: A No-Nonsense Leadership Book
- 06:59 – Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
- 08:07 – Coaching Success Story
- 09:07 – Know Your Strengths and Let Go
- 10:23 – The Jerry Jones Leadership Lesson
- 11:31 – Final Words and How to Connect