Tough Enough - How to Lead a Team to Greatness Without Being a Jerk

‘Takes both old and new leadership tactics and transforms them into strategies to use in crises . . . It is a testament to Baird and Hunter’s lucrative experience in the business realm and the role they play in shaping great leaders’ – Eric Yuan, CEO and founder of Zoom

'If you believe you have to choose between being respectful and being effective, Tough Enough will change your mind. John Baird and Matt Hunter prove that the best leaders do both—and do it exceptionally well—with clarity, conviction, and courage.' —John Mackey, cofounder and former CEO of Whole Foods and New York Times bestselling author of Conscious Capitalism

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From two of Silicon Valley's premier executive coaches, a no-nonsense guide to building elite teams by embracing true toughness - without sacrificing your humanity.
Some of today’s most successful companies are infamous for toxic, high-burnout cultures. But you don’t have to compromise your values to drive your team to greatness.
In Tough Enough, executive coaches John Baird and Matt Hunter introduce the ‘Toughness Spectrum’. This counterintuitive framework helps you calibrate between the passive ‘Comfort Zone’ and the destructive ‘Hardcore Zone’ to hit the high-performance sweet spot. Drawing on decades of experience coaching top CEOs and founders at world-class organisations like Apple, Nike, and DoorDash, the authors break down seven transformative habits to help you lead with radical respect and uncompromising results.
This isn't fluffy management theory. Packed with real-world stories and data-backed tools, this is the practical playbook for anyone ready to demand excellence and enforce accountability without crossing the line.
Whether you are an entrepreneur scaling a startup or an executive sharpening your team’s edge, Tough Enough proves you don't have to be a jerk to build a next-generation company - but you do have to be tough enough.
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'Drawing from deep experience coaching top executives, John Baird and Matt Hunter deliver a compelling framework in Tough Enough for leading teams to greatness. It’s a powerful reminder that excellence requires courage and that the best leaders know how to push harder, lead better, and achieve lasting results.' —Lip Bu Tan, CEO of Intel Corporation

'In Tough Enough, John Baird and Matt Hunter deliver a masterclass in modern leadership—one that rejects false trade-offs between performance and humanity. This book challenges leaders to raise their standards without losing their soul, offering a practical and powerful framework for building teams that truly win.' —Denise Young, former Worldwide Chief of Human Resources at Apple