414. The 3 Leadership Archetypes Destroying Law Firms
The Game Changing Attorney Podcast with Michael Mogill
Why promoting top performers can fail
Jessica challenges the myth that A players automatically make great leaders and contrasts individual vs. team mindset.
What if your firm’s biggest threat isn’t poor strategy or weak talent — but misaligned leadership?
As part of the “Road to the Summit”, a special series ramping up to the 2025 Game Changers Summit this November 12–13, we’re revisiting some of the most powerful conversations ever featured at our events. In this episode of The Game Changing Attorney Podcast, Jessica Mogill takes the stage at the 2024 Game Changers Summit to expose the hidden cost of poor leadership.
She breaks down why high performers don’t automatically make great leaders, how fear-based management destroys culture, and what it really takes to build alignment at every level. Through real stories from inside Crisp, Jessica reveals how small cracks at the top can ripple through an entire organization, and what leaders can do to stop it.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Why your strongest performers can become your weakest leaders without the right mindset and training
- How to identify cracks in leadership before they fracture your entire team
- What it takes to rebuild alignment, trust, and performance from the top down
Want to create lasting impact through leadership that lifts everyone around you? Start here.
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Show Notes:
01:44 – Jessica introduces the theme: the danger of promoting top performers into leadership without the right mindset.
03:02 – Jessica connects “The Boys” to high performers who turn destructive without balance and empathy.
06:35 – “A crack at the leadership level is a canyon to the rest of the team.” She explains how misaligned leadership ripples across the company.
07:56 – Global cost of poor leadership: $7 trillion. Jessica shares how poor management drains performance and trust.
11:32 – Skip-level meetings reveal hidden issues. She explains how transparency rebuilt alignment.
17:08 – The story of “Casey,” the fear-based leader who created a culture of fear and disengagement.
24:57 – The peacekeeper leader “Lisa” avoids conflict, causing accountability to erode.
32:11 – The veteran leader “Jake” clings to the past and kills innovation through resistance to change.
39:35 – Jessica closes with her reflection: “What you tolerate today will become your standard tomorrow.”
Links & Resources:
Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 by John C. Maxwell
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Past guests on The Game Changing Attorney Podcast include David Goggins, John Morgan, Alex Hormozi, Randi McGinn, Kim Scott, Chris Voss, Kevin O’Leary, Laura Wasser, John Maxwell, Mark Lanier, Robert Greene, and many more.
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