A Year of Leading (and Learning) Out Loud

Five Small Takeaways From Writing a Leadership Newsletter for 52 Weeks

Image from 16personalities.com

Today marks the first birthday of Leadership by 16Personalities – one year ago today, the very first post went out. 🥳

At the time, we didn’t know just how much our publication would resonate, or that it would quickly grow into a community of over 22,000 leaders. But we did know what we wanted to build: something useful for leaders who care about their teams and believe that personality might play a role in how we show up at work.

On a more personal level, I didn’t expect just how much creating this newsletter would reshape my thinking.

Creating this content has pushed me to reflect on my own leadership habits – how I communicate, where I avoid discomfort, when I fall into old patterns. This work has challenged me to practice what I write, even (especially) when it’s hard.

And yet, I keep showing up. Because the ideas we’ve shared here – about stress, emotional intelligence, uncertainty, self-respect, and more – matter. They’re real. They’re human. And they’re the kinds of ideas I wish I had earlier in my own career.

So, to mark this milestone, here are five honest lessons I’ve learned about leadership (and myself) after a year of writing Leadership by 16Personalities:

1. Start scared and do it anyway.

I can’t count how many posts I started without a clear plan. Most weeks, I didn’t feel ready – but I wrote anyway. And somewhere in the middle of drafting, things would click. I’ve learned that clarity often shows up after you begin, not before. Leadership is the same way. You don’t always get the luxury of certainty before taking action. You just have to begin and trust that confidence can catch up.

2. You learn faster when you teach.

Writing about leadership made me realize how often I needed the reminders myself. Every concept I tried to explain forced me to look at my own habits more honestly. Leading a team feels the same – the more you model what you’re asking of others, the more it sinks in for you too.

3. Curiosity beats expertise.

Some of my favorite moments from this past year came from exploring ideas I didn’t have fully figured out. Turns out, you don’t need to have all the answers to spark something useful. In both writing and leadership, staying curious creates way more momentum than pretending to know it all.

4. Not every idea needs to be a solution.

I used to think every post needed to end in a neat takeaway – but some of the most meaningful ones didn’t. They just gave people space to pause, reflect, and feel seen. I think leadership works the same way: not every challenge needs an immediate fix. Sometimes, the most helpful thing you can do is name what’s hard and make space for it, so people feel less alone while you figure it out together.

5. The way you see work isn’t the way everyone else does.

Writing about all 16 personality types made this really clear. What feels normal or obvious to one person might feel completely overwhelming – or even disrespectful – to someone else. It’s easy to assume your way of working is just…the way. But leadership means stepping outside your own perspective and remembering there are at least 15 other ways to experience the same day.

After 12 months, I’m more certain than ever that leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about learning in public, asking better questions, and staying human in the process.

Thank you for following along and letting these ideas be part of your own leadership work.

I’d love to know: How has your leadership changed in the past year? What’s challenged you? What’s kept you going?

Until next time,

Carly from the 16Personalities Team

P.S. Free subscribers can take advantage of our special birthday discount through July 8. You’ll get full access to all past, present, and future content and lock in a low rate that will never go up.