EP 278 - Rhett Power: Growth Isn’t What You Know. It’s What You Do With It.
- Govindh Jayaraman
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Episode 278 — Rhett Power: Growth Isn’t What You Know. It’s What You Do With It.
“Growth doesn’t come from what we know, but from how we apply what we learn.” — Rhett Power, Paper Napkin Wisdom
If you’ve ever felt “over-read and under-done,” this one’s for you. In Episode 278, entrepreneur, executive coach, and Forbes columnist Rhett Power sits down with Paper Napkin Wisdom to remind us that ideas don’t create results—implementation does. Rhett’s napkin is deceptively simple: growth lives in the gap between learning and applying. That gap is where courage, accountability, and consistency turn knowledge into outcomes.
A quick snapshot of Rhett’s journey illuminates why he cares so much about application. He co-founded Wild Creations, transforming a startup toy company into South Carolina’s Fastest Growing Business and an Inc. 500 honoree, with dozens of national product awards along the way. That run taught him the difference between “knowing” and “building.” Today, he channels those lessons as CEO and Co-Founder of Accountability Inc., where he coaches founders and executive teams to operationalize what they learn—so it shows up in revenue, resilience, and culture.
Beyond the boardroom, Rhett shares pragmatic leadership insights as a Forbes columnist and is part of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches community—positions that keep him close to what works inside high-performance organizations. He’s also the author of The Entrepreneur’s Book of Actions, a how-to field guide for turning intention into behavior change, one day at a time.
What stands out in this conversation is Rhett’s clarity on accountability as a habit system, not a personality trait. Knowledge without structure drifts; knowledge with cadence compounds. When leaders install rhythms—weekly commitments, honest scorecards, and real consequences—learning turns into muscle memory. And when teams see leaders hold themselves accountable first, they mirror that behavior. That’s how companies shift from “more training” to more traction.
Rhett also challenges a common misconception: you don’t need perfect conditions to apply what you learn—you need useful constraints. He learned that in the trenches of scaling product lines, negotiating with suppliers, and navigating recognition like the Inc. 500 lists. Constraints force prioritization; prioritization accelerates application. Leaders who embrace those constraints stop chasing hacks and start building systems that outlast them.
Finally, Rhett brings a bias for experiments over declarations. Rather than launching sweeping initiatives, he advocates small, high-frequency tests—tweaks to your pipeline review, the way you open 1:1s, or how you close meetings with explicit commitments. String enough winning experiments together and you’ll look “disciplined.” But underneath, you’re doing something more powerful: you’re proving what you’ve learned in the only place that matters—your results.
About the Guest Rhett Power is a six-time founder, CEO and Co-Founder at Accountability Inc., a Forbes columnist, and author of The Entrepreneur’s Book of Actions. He co-founded Wild Creations, an Inc. 500 company and South Carolina’s Fastest Growing Business, and is recognized by Thinkers360 as a top thought leader on entrepreneurship. He’s part of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches community.
5 Key Takeaways (with Take-Action Steps)
Application Beats Accumulation It’s not the volume of insights; it’s the velocity of implementation that compounds.
Take Action: For the next 14 days, end every meeting with two lines in the notes: Decision and Owner & Date. Review those lines first at the next meeting. No exceptions.
Design Accountability as a System Accountability sticks when it’s visible, time-boxed, and owned.
Take Action: Publish a simple weekly scorecard (no more than 7 metrics) to your leadership team every Friday. On Monday, open with “green/yellow/red—what did we learn and what will we do this week?”
Use Constraints to Clarify Constraints don’t block growth; they focus it.
Take Action: Choose one constraint (budget, headcount, time) and set a 30-day “innovation sprint” around it. Ask: How might we hit the same outcome with 20% fewer resources? Ship the best idea within the 30 days.
Build Micro-Experiments into Your Culture Micro-bets reduce risk and increase learning speed.
Take Action: Institute a “5% Experiment Rule”: every leader runs one small, reversible test per month (pricing, messaging, onboarding step). Share outcomes in a monthly “What We Tried / What We Learned” memo.
Model the Behavior First Teams adopt what leaders demonstrate, not what they announce.
Take Action: Pick one high-leverage leadership behavior to model for 21 days (e.g., start 1:1s with “What are you stuck on?” and end with “What’s your one commitment this week?”). Tell your team you’re doing it—and ask them to hold you to it.
One Line I’ll Remember
“Growth doesn’t come from what we know, but from how we apply what we learn.” —
Rhett Power
Keep Learning from Rhett
Website: https://rhettpower.com/ (shared by the guest)
Books: The Entrepreneur’s Book of Actions and more (see “Books” on his site). Rhett Power
Your Turn — #PaperNapkinWisdom What’s one insight you’ve already learned that you can apply in the next 24 hours? Jot it on a napkin, snap a photo, and share it with #PaperNapkinWisdom. Tag your takeaway, and let’s build a public ledger of applied wisdom—because that’s where the growth is.