{"id":1558,"date":"2025-08-25T09:37:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T09:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/?p=1558"},"modified":"2025-08-25T09:37:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T09:37:28","slug":"are-you-playing-chess-or-checkers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/are-you-playing-chess-or-checkers\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Playing Chess or Checkers?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cLeaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0– Brian Tracy<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Many people run their organizations like a game of checkers. Every move is reactionary. Something happens, and they jump one square to respond. A crew member quits – scramble to fill the role with the first person they can find. A client complains – scramble to fix the issue. You are short on work – scramble to sell work as quickly as possible,\u00a0without a pricing matrix in place. That\u2019s checkers: fast, surface-level moves that don\u2019t go very deep!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best leaders play chess. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chess is about strategy, foresight, and positioning. It\u2019s about asking, \u201cIf I make this move now, what doors open – or close – three moves from now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStrategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0– Sun Tzu<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can be honest with y’all – there were times early in Atlas where I wasn\u2019t playing chess at all. I was playing desperate checkers. I remember bidding jobs based solely on what my payroll was that week. If payroll was $15,000, I\u2019d price projects to make sure $15,000 came in. No thought about margins. No thought about systems. Just trying to survive the week. That\u2019s what checkers leadership looks like – reacting to the square right in front of you and hoping you can jump far enough to stay in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chess leaders don\u2019t just think about the board – they think about the players. Every piece has a role, and when one is misplaced, the whole strategy suffers. In business, that\u2019s culture. If your culture is toxic or reactionary, no strategy will save you. But when you align your people with purpose and vision, suddenly every piece moves with greater intention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chess leadership looks different. It means building systems so you hopefully don\u2019t have to fight the same fire twice. It means thinking three moves ahead – hiring not just for today\u2019s crew, but for tomorrow\u2019s growth strategy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most painful parts of chess is sacrifice. Sometimes you lose a piece to set yourself up for a bigger win. Leadership is the same way. There are seasons where you have to say no to the “shiny opportunities”, let go of good people who don\u2019t align, or even admit your own mistakes to clear the path forward. That\u2019s not weakness – it\u2019s strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Checkers will keep you busy. You\u2019ll always feel like you\u2019re moving. But the truth is, you\u2019re playing in 2D – always reacting, never building real advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.\u201d<\/em> – Michael Porter<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Chess forces you to slow down and think differently. The best chess players know the game is won long before the checkmate actually happens. They\u2019re positioning people, anticipating challenges, and creating opportunities while others are still reacting to the last move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Checkers moves feel quick and exciting, but often they lead nowhere. Chess looks slower, but every move builds momentum. In business, activity isn\u2019t the same as progress. Filling your calendar with busy work feels like you\u2019re \u201cwinning,\u201d but it may just be a lot of checker jumps that don\u2019t add up to anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So ask yourself this… Are you leading your organization with a checkerboard mindset or a chessboard mindset?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If every decision you make is only about surviving this week, you\u2019ll never build a team or organization that thrives. Stop playing checkers with your future!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLeaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.\u201d\u00a0– Brian Tracy Many people run their organizations like a game of checkers. Every move is reactionary. Something happens, and they jump one square to respond. A crew member quits – scramble to fill the role with the first person they can … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1560,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1558\/revisions\/1560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}