Welcome to the OfiOfo 10/10 series, where we engage with trailblazing leaders from various fields who are redefining leadership.
We delve into their top 10 things they are looking for in a leader and the 10 things they are working on as leaders themselves. We asked them to keep these snapshots brief – rapid, accessible, and endlessly inspiring. If you’re looking for leadership skills to aspire to make sure to subscribe to our Leaders Are Built Substack to get every part of the series delivered straight to your inbox. Enjoy.
10/10 with Justin Cohen
Justin Cohen is a dad, runner, multi-vertical executive and board member with a modern leadership style and a distinctive set of skills that has consistently delivered exceptional results in both established and start-up environments.
Most recently, Justin led the commercial success for Psycho Bunny, where he worked with an incredible team of internal and external partners to refine the brand direction and increase awareness and 10X revenue over his tenure. Justin has a global perspective with deep North American & European experience, is a highly adaptable change-enabler, and a progressive leader with the ability to identify and develop high-performance leaders.
Impressively, Justin has repeatedly proven successful in future-proofing businesses, establishing clear corporate vision, building annual planning processes & launching large-scale complex multi-channel initiatives.
He lives in Montreal with his fam and is the first person we turn to for leadership and management book recommendations—he’s read them all.
Now from Justin:
10 things I look for in a leader
- Passion: love when people get that manic look in their eyes.
- Curiosity: Always diving one level deeper
- Scrappiness: Finds ways to get things done
- Humility: pushes the spotlight onto their team for wins, takes the blame for misses.
- Dexterity: Can put them in any situation
- Creativity: Thinks about problems differently.
- Taste: Discerning eye for detail
- High level of inquiry: not scared to ask questions
- High level of advocacy: not scared to fight for what they believe.
- Kindness: Operates with empathy
10 things I am working on as a leader
- Patience: not everyone moves at the same pace
- Communication & Clarity: Always working to make things as clear as possible
- Having a better poker face: when I’m annoyed it shows
- Balance: Take on less – be home more
- Being in the moment: limit distractions and focus on what/who is in front of me.
- Setting the right expectations: at home and at work, not over-promising
- Being easier on myself: it’s not about perfection – it’s about progress
- Gathering dissenting points of view: spend more time seeking the counterfactual
- Being an optimist: it’s easy to get down – focus more on what’s possible.
- Modeling better: Consistently exemplify the behaviors I preach
Interested in building your team’s leadership skills? Book an offsite or executive retreat for your team.
Want more 10/10 leadership wisdom. Check out our interview with David Dressler, founder of Quiet Advisory’s David Dressler on redefining leadership and important leadership traits.