EP. 96 | Hard Skills Get You the Job. Human Skills Keep It. (w/ Mike Miles)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-j-miles/https://www.milestone-leadership.com/blogMike Miles spent 20 years at Microsoft. Led teams of 700 people across 11 countries. Helped launch Bing in 75 markets. Held two patents. And nearly burned out trying to take a company public before 9/11 ended that dream.What he walked away with wasn't the stock options. It was a question: is that really the leader I want to be?Today Mike runs Milestone Leadership, coaches executives and impact-focused founders, sits as board chair at Watson Institute, and runs 90-mile events in his spare time. We talk about the Blue Task vs. Red Task framework, how to build the line out your door, why AI is making human skills more valuable than ever, and what 20 years at Microsoft taught him that no business school ever could.Timestamps:0:00 – Welcome + Mike introduces Milestone Leadership0:39 – Three things he focuses on: new skills, balance, delegation1:48 – From IPO to sold for pennies: the pre-Microsoft burnout story3:54 – The line out your door — the best leadership measure nobody talks about5:47 – Why coaching leaders wasn't a thing at Microsoft in the early 2000s6:30 – Hard skills vs. human skills — why we don't value what we can't measure8:48 – How he works with clients: the 4 assessments (360, DISC, balance, energy)12:52 – The running question — and why endurance is a leadership lab13:21 – Stepping outside your comfort zone in another dimension15:18 – 90 miles in Park City, Utah — and a 100K coming this September16:48 – Nature, thinking, and what the desert is missing21:27 – The patent cubes on the shelf — what Microsoft gives you for innovating22:54 – What gives him the most fulfillment now vs. leading 700 people26:10 – The Blue Task vs. Red Task framework explained29:07 – How to delegate, defer, or delete your red tasks30:44 – The four things you can do with any email: respond, delegate, defer, delete32:57 – How Mike keeps his workweek under 40 hours on purpose33:50 – The business manager who's been with him for 25 years38:30 – Why he blogs without AI — and why that matters41:55 – Bring Back Blogging — a new hashtag is born42:57 – What he'd tell his younger self: invest in human skills earlier45:14 – You can't learn to swim by reading about water47:15 – The reps that count — and why presence is the rep49:05 – Running without headphones — and why being alone with yourself is hard50:06 – Closing thoughts