Every Manager Should Build Their Own Playbook

By Ethan Nash

Part 1: Introduction

What if every leader/manager built their own leadership playbook?

 I’m talking about a short, clear document that captures the personal mission, values, principles, practices, and skills we choose to lead by. Something we can come back to when we’re in the weeds and need to reset and refocus.

 As leaders, we (hopefully?) learn a lot over time -- through experience, books, podcasts (like the Managing with Mind & Heart Podcast, of course ), trainings, and hard lessons. But if we don’t distill that learning, we won’t use it. Because, as the saying goes, if everything is your focus, nothing is.

 Our playbook should be a living document. Just like a strong business strategy, it should evolve through trial, error, reflection, learning, and hard-earned wisdom. But it also needs constraints. If it’s too long, it becomes something we never revisit or too detailed to be actionable.

 Think of it like a strategy. A strategy isn’t “do everything well.” It’s a hypothesis built on trade-offs: if I focus on these few things and intentionally choose not to focus on others, I hypothesize I’ll achieve my objectives. Your leadership playbook is the same. It’s your hypothesis for how you lead effectively.

 I recommend keeping it to three pages or less. Not because leadership is simple, but because it’s complex. And in that complexity, clarity and focus are what allow us to execute at a high level.

 Here’s an idea for a starting point: spend just 10–15 minutes each week building it. Over time, you’re not just collecting ideas, you’re distilling and refining something you can actually use as your north star.

Part 2: The Five Core Components

Last month, I made the case for why every leader should build their own leadership playbook: a personal guide that helps us stay grounded in what matters most when leadership gets messy and complex.

The difference between effective leadership and inconsistent leadership is often intention. A playbook helps us move from simply reacting to leading with purpose.

In this newsletter, I want to introduce the five core components I recommend including in your playbook. Over the coming months, I'll dive deeper into each one and share additional reflection prompts that I use with coaching clients and continue to use myself.

My recommendation: spend just 15-20 minutes per month building your playbook. Don't rush it. This isn't something that gets finalized in one sitting. Think of it as collecting field notes on yourself. Pay attention to your experiences, your successes, your failures, and the lessons that keep resurfacing.

Here are the five core components I recommend. But remember: make it your own.

1. Your Mission

Your mission answers the question: Why do I do what I do?

Stephen Covey famously encouraged us to begin with the end in mind. A mission helps clarify the impact you hope to have through your leadership and your life. For example, my personal mission is to be a beacon of love and encouragement and to share knowledge and wisdom that improves the well-being of others.

Reflection Question: When I'm 85 years old and looking back on my career, what impact would make me feel proud of how I spent my time?

2. Your Values

Values are the core ways you want to show up in the world. They guide your decisions regardless of the situation.

The key word is core. I don't think most people need ten values. Usually, two to four is enough. (If everything is your focus, nothing is.)

One of my core values is growth. I've defined what growth means for me, both in how I spend my time and how I interact with others.

Reflection Question: If someone observed my behavior for a year, what would they conclude is most important to me?

3. Your Principles

Principles are practical decision-making rules. They are heuristics that help us navigate complexity consistently.

For example, one of my leadership principles is to seek understanding before disagreeing or critiquing. Another is to be as transparent as possible with my team. Strong principles reduce decision fatigue because they help us make certain decisions before situations arise.

Reflection Question: Looking back, where have I consistently made decisions that led to outcomes I feel good about? What might be the principle at play here?

4. Your Practices

Practices are the habits, routines, and systems that support your leadership.

Examples might include conducting regular one-on-one meetings, establishing clear accountability through by-whens, using agendas for meetings, or sending weekly team updates. You don't need to document every practice you use. Focus on the handful that are foundational to your effectiveness.

Reflection Question: Which leadership practices create the biggest positive impact for me and my team?

5. Your Skills

Skills are the specific behaviors you need to execute effectively as a leader.

For me, these include facilitating conversations, giving feedback with clarity and respect, receiving feedback non-defensively, coaching others, and analyzing systems when solving problems. Leadership is ultimately expressed through behavior, and skills are what allow us to turn our mission, values, principles, and practices into action.

Reflection Question: What skills are most essential to my success as a leader, and how intentionally am I developing them?

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Give it a try. Start reflecting, journaling, and capturing what you're learning. Over the next several months, we'll continue building each section of the playbook together.