Chapter 1
Three Categories of People at Work
Levers, Pretenders, Sleepers — diagnose your team in one afternoon.
Overview
Every person on your payroll is one of three types: Levers, who multiply everything they touch; Pretenders, who have mastered the look of work without the output; and Sleepers, whose real capacity you’ve never tapped. Most retention disasters aren’t hiring mistakes — they’re categorization mistakes. You’re protecting the wrong people and losing the right ones. Learn to see your team clearly, and you’ll know exactly who to fight for, who to develop, and who’s quietly costing you everything.