The Hidden Power of Low Leverage (And How to Use It Strategically) | Lazy Leverage #59

32 snips

May 15, 2025

Explore the concept of the 'Low Leverage Advantage' that emphasizes hands-on work over delegation, especially in the early stages of a career. Discover why personal engagement is crucial, not just professionally but also in family life. Understand the importance of documenting your journey and how consistent networking can unlock new opportunities. Delve into the value of constructive debates, leveraging AI for competitive analysis, and enhancing communication. Finally, hear insights on effective use of dictation tools to streamline productivity.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Early Low Leverage Builds Judgment

Early career work tends to be low leverage, focusing on direct execution and basic team leverage.
High leverage later comes from the judgment developed by close, hands-on experience.

ADVICE

Dive Deep in Early Stages

When launching something new or solving problems, dive deep into the work yourself.
Avoid delegating early; doing hands-on work builds sharp judgment.

ANECDOTE

Auditing Team Workflows Anecdote

Jon sat with every team member to audit tools and workflows, fixing inefficiencies side by side.
This effort saved time and improved processes, showing leadership's engagement.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

In an age obsessed with scale, speed, and leverage, it’s easy to forget that the best long-term advantage might come from doing the exact opposite.

Call it the "Low Leverage Advantage."

When you're early in your career—or launching something new—there’s a strong case for diving into the work yourself. Not delegating. Not automating. Just doing. Need to onboard a new sales team? Write the first 20 cold DMs yourself. Building a new ops process? Sit next to the team member buried in outdated workflows and fix it together.

Why? Because high leverage comes from judgment. And judgment comes from getting close to the metal. It’s why executives driving Ubers for a week makes more sense than another offsite. Or why a CEO helping troubleshoot a Dropbox error can spark more productivity than another strategy session.

But the magic doesn’t stop at work. Trying to optimize your personal life with AI prompts and workflows? Terrible idea. Your kids don’t need you to delegate bedtime—they need you to show up. Presence is low leverage, but it’s high value.

The trick? Learn to oscillate. Plant with intimacy, harvest with leverage. Create media, but still get your hands dirty. Record podcasts, but stay close to the customer. Don’t chase scale so hard that you forget where insights come from.

Low leverage isn’t a step backward—it’s an intentional investment in depth. And if you document along the way, even the mundane becomes future leverage. Your dusty SOP doc? Might be the foundation of your next seven-figure business.

Leverage and scale will come, but only if you show up, do the work, and remain consistent.

Key Topics:
(03:08) Why (and When to) Go Low Leverage?
(10:19) How Low Leverage Activities Build Loyalty with Team Members
(17:08) Laying the Groundwork Early on in Your Business
(23:05) Learning New Skills with Low Leverage Work
(31:00) Creating a Body of Work That Makes the Best Use of Your Time
(40:25) Nurturing Growth by Encouraging Healthy Debates
(48:22) Why Respectful Disagreement Between Team Members is Good for Business
(53:27) Jon and Peter’s Latest AI Breakthroughs