5 Leadership Frameworks That Top Founders Swear By
The intersection of venture capital wisdom and nonprofit strategy that works across industries
Last month, I published a detailed interview with Joel Salinas, MBA educated, nonprofit leader and creator of Leadership in Change. The response was immediate. Founders started implementing frameworks, and leaders reached out about validation strategies. Joel’s audience of mission-driven leaders began connecting with venture capital principles, reminding us that business leadership principles are universal.
That got us talking again.
Three weeks after our original conversation went live, Joel and I found ourselves comparing notes on which frameworks hit hardest with our readers. What we discovered led to this post.
Joel operates at the intersection of faith, strategy, and AI, helping leaders navigate uncertainty with clarity. After 500+ investments, I thought I’d seen every leadership pattern. But his perspective from nonprofit management, church leadership, and mission-driven strategy made me consider some new approaches. Here are five of the systems we discussed in Part 1 and Part 2 that I want to revisit.
The Leadership Trap Everyone Falls Into
Most leaders are drowning in priorities, convinced that doing more means achieving more.
I see it constantly across portfolio companies. Founders juggling twelve “critical” initiatives, nonprofit directors saying yes to every opportunity, spreading their teams thin across endless programs.
It reminds me of someone trying to carry too many coffee cups without a tray. Eventually, everything spills.
The chat with Joel that led to this post dives into how five core frameworks determine whether leaders scale sustainably or burn out spectacularly.
System 1: The Uncertainty Advantage Through Price’s Law
I’ve been obsessive about Price’s Law for years. Very few things ultimately pay off, so I use the Gold, Silver, Bronze prioritisation system and never allow more than three strategic priorities.
During our follow-up, Joel said something that I liked...
“I’ve seen leaders fail repeatedly because they put all their eggs in the basket of what’s working now,” he explained. “They ignore that the rate of change, accelerated by AI, means today’s success might be tomorrow’s irrelevance.”
He tells his team: “As soon as we believe we’re doing things as well as they possibly could be done, we become stagnant. Someone, somewhere, is doing this better, more efficiently, more impactfully. We need to find that way.”
Price’s Law isn’t just about focus. It’s about systematic evolution.
The Gold, Silver, Bronze System:
Gold Priority: Current execution that’s proven and working
Silver Priority: Testing what might work next (your bridge to the future)
Bronze Priority: Long-term vision and industry transformation
Everything Else: Parking lot for when you have capacity
Joel’s insight: your Gold priority today might need to become your parking lot tomorrow. Price’s Law demands both focus and flexibility.
Most founders protect what’s working while ignoring what might work better. That’s how category leaders get disrupted.
System 2: The 3 Horizons Resource Allocation Model
The 3 Horizons Model allocates 70% to current execution, 20% to bridge strategies, 10% to future vision. I’ve seen it transform hundreds of companies, but most get stuck firefighting in Horizon 1.
I always say that people underestimate what they can achieve in the long run but overestimate what they can achieve in the short term. Joel added that “one of the greatest risks for leaders is saying yes to everything, which creates an urgency-only culture.”
His analogy was perfect: “Nobody runs a marathon at the speed of a 100-meter dash. There are times for urgent action, but there must also be protected time for strategic thinking. Strategic time allocation has to be intentional.”
The 3 Horizons Framework:
Horizon 1 (70%): Current operations and proven execution
Horizon 2 (20%): Bridge strategies connecting today to tomorrow
Horizon 3 (10%): Long-term vision and transformation
Joel’s practical addition: you need protected calendar time for each horizon. Most leaders give everything to Horizon 1 and wonder why they’re always reactive.
Our advice: “Block strategic time like you would a board meeting. Urgent doesn’t always mean important.”
Without intentional systems, urgent always wins. But urgent rarely builds the future.
System 3: The Holiday Exercise for Delegation
The Holiday Exercise continues to surprise founders. I go completely unavailable on holiday, forcing my team to operate without me. When I return, if things went badly, that’s actually good data showing exactly where I haven’t empowered them enough.
Joel’s cultural insight added something I hadn’t considered.
“This hits differently in the United States, where there’s almost a cultural negative view of using vacation fully,” he observed. “If you can’t leave your team for two weeks without things falling apart, you’re hindering growth by making success dependent on one person.”
The guilt reframe is crucial. Instead of feeling guilty about taking time off, feel guilty about NOT empowering people, not challenging them to grow, not giving them development opportunities.
The Holiday Exercise Process:
Go completely unavailable during time off
Assess results upon return, both successes and failures
Identify specific gaps where the team struggled
Build systems, training, and authority to address those gaps
Repeat until the team operates independently
Joel’s insight about work culture resonated. We’ve confused indispensability with value. Real value comes from developing others and building systems that multiply impact.
The business reality: teams that operate without constant founder input scale faster and more sustainably.
System 4: AI Leadership Through Innovation and Adaptability
We’re in an AI installation period, like the internet in the 90s. Critical thinking and core leadership qualities remain constant. Everything else is accelerating.
Joel’s take on what this actually means was worth noting here:
“AI is fundamentally changing leadership because execution of ideas is becoming automated,” he explained. “The two biggest skill sets leaders need for the next decade are innovation and adaptability.”
His breakdown makes perfect sense:
Innovation allows you to be creative, find new opportunities, discover new ways to meet market demands.
Adaptability helps you seize constantly improving AI tools to execute ideas and bring solutions to market while competing at breakneck speed.
The AI Leadership Framework:
What Stays Constant: Critical thinking, core leadership qualities, strategic execution
What’s Accelerating: Speed of change, execution possibilities, competitive pace
What You Must Develop: Innovation (idea generation) plus Adaptability (tool mastery)
This connects to every technology cycle I’ve witnessed. Most of what we’re told about new tech won’t be true. Things we overlook will be massive.
Joel’s practical approach: “Don’t fear the tools, integrate them. But build your innovation and adaptability muscles because the tools will keep evolving faster than most people realise.”
System 5: The Long Game Currency
The biggest currency leaders can build comes from five assets that compound over decades: behavioral value, meaningful values, creation ability, belief building, and direction keeping.
Like the not for profit I co-founded, included.vc, belief and mission is central to leadership. These long-term assets are what sustain teams, movements, and companies beyond quarterly performance.
Joel’s insight addresses something I see across every portfolio company.
“Leaders are often shortsighted, sometimes unavoidably,” he said. “They’re reviewed quarterly, could lose jobs over short-term performance. But there is a long game. Success in the next decade often requires short-term sacrifice now.”
His approach to balancing this tension: “A wise leader identifies where long-term investments are needed and finds ways to protect them under short-term pressure. You have to play both games simultaneously.”
The Five Leadership Currencies:
Behavioural Value: How you consistently act under pressure
Meaningful Values: Principles guiding decisions, not wall decorations
Creation Ability: Making something from nothing or improving what exists
Belief Building: Helping others believe in themselves as much as in you
Direction Keeping: Moving forward even when the path isn’t clear
Sometimes the right strategic decision looks wrong in quarterly reviews but builds the foundation for sustained success.
The leaders who thrive long-term understand this balance. They meet short-term requirements while systematically building these five currencies.
Why These Systems Work Across Industries
The response to our interview revealed something important. Great frameworks transcend industry boundaries.
Nonprofit directors implemented the Holiday Exercise. Pastors used Price’s Law for ministry prioritisation. Startup founders discovered that mission-driven principles actually accelerate growth.
These systems work because they address universal challenges: focus, delegation, adaptation, and sustainability.
Both our audiences share something fundamental. Leaders across every sector want frameworks that actually work in practice, not just theory.
Your Next Move
Pick one system and test it this month.
Start with Price’s Law if you need focus. Try the Holiday Exercise if you’re ready to test your delegation systems. Apply the 3 Horizons Model if you’re stuck in urgency mode.
The leaders who thrive in the next decade won’t avoid change. They’ll build systems that multiply impact while embracing continuous evolution.
Bottom Line: Great leadership principles work everywhere. The question isn’t whether your industry is different. It’s whether you’ll implement what actually works.
My co-authors and I just released The Big Book of BrainDumps with 70+ frameworks for leaders navigating uncertainty and growth. Check it out here.
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