Episode 450 — AMMA — When Hiring Smart People Makes You Dumber
The people you surround yourself with either push you forward or quietly hold you back.
In this episode of The Game Changing Attorney Podcast, Michael and Jessica Mogill answer three listener questions that all point to the same tension: leaders who’ve scaled past seven figures often struggle to recalibrate the people they listen to, the way they make decisions, and the balance between intuition and expertise. This conversation reveals what happens when your growth outpaces your circle and how to fix it before it stalls your momentum.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- How to recognize when you’ve outgrown your peer group and what to do about it
- Why seeking too much input creates paralysis instead of clarity
- When to trust your instincts as a founder versus when to defer to expert advice
If you want to scale without stalling, this episode will show you where the friction is coming from and how to fix it.
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Show Notes:
The room you’re in either challenges you to grow or quietly lets you stay the same. “You want to surround yourself with people who remind you more of where you’re going than where you’ve been.”
Truth-seeking groups exist to make you better, not comfortable. “My question to a mentor is always: where am I wrong? I’m not interested in where I’m right.”
Outgrowing your peer group isn’t a problem to fix but a signal to act on. “If the people around you are not challenging you anymore, then you’re in the wrong room.”
Asking everyone for input doesn’t make you thoughtful. It makes you stuck. “If you go around the room and you say, okay, well, now it’s your turn to decide, everyone gets super nervous. That’s just what comes with the role.”
CFOs are paid to protect, not to push growth. That’s your job. “That’s why CFOs aren’t CEOs. And it’s not a knock against CFOs. But there’s a reason why CFOs are CFOs. By nature, they are risk-averse.”
Your gut isn’t a strategy. Data-informed risk is. “You want to be able to have that input because in the absence of it, you don’t want to just be rolling the dice. You want to know what’s in your bank account. You want to know what the cash flow situation looks like. All that is designed to help you better assess the risk.”
Connect with Michael
- Text directly at 404-531-7691
