Business

6 Tips to Help Managers Become Leaders

Published

3 years ago

February 19, 2022

You might be a good manager if you have the right skills, but it is hard to wear leadership shoes when your feet don’t fit. Many managers are in for a rude awakening as they learn how difficult it can be to become a leader. Managing people is not easy, and even worse, it’s not always fun.

You need to stay focused on the job at hand, yet that requires taking time away from it. It also means being willing to make unpopular decisions and face backlash from those they impact. This is especially true if you’re leading a team or department of employees.

The Difference Between Managers and Leaders

Managing others isn’t about doing their jobs well; it’s about helping them do theirs better. If you want to be a great manager, you must understand that the best leaders don’t necessarily know the most about what needs to get done.

Instead, they are the ones who inspire others to work harder, faster, smarter, and more creatively than ever before. They are the ones who can make the tough calls when everyone else is paralyzed by fear or doubt. They take action when no one else dares to move forward.

Here Are Six Tips For Becoming A Great Leader

1. Be Honest With Yourself

It’s easy to tell other people how things should be done, but you’ll never be able to lead effectively if you can’t admit your weaknesses. It’s not enough to say, “I’m too busy,” or, “The project just doesn’t seem important.”

No matter how much you want to delegate responsibility, you will always be responsible for making sure everything gets done. And, as the leader, you need to be honest with yourself about whether you’re really up to the task. Are you delegating because you don’t have time to handle it? Or, are you afraid of failure? Leaders who are willing to take risks, even if they fail, are the ones who get things done.

2. Ask For Feedback

If you want to improve, you need to ask for feedback. You might think it’s an inconvenience, but you’d be surprised at how often people will offer constructive criticism if you ask. Even better, it will help you grow personally, so it’s worth putting in the effort.

3. Set The Example

People follow leaders, not bosses. You need to model the behavior you expect from your team members. If you want them to act professionally, you must act professionally. This includes things like arriving early and staying late.

4. Keep Your Priorities Straight

Being a leader means knowing where you’re headed and having the confidence to take action. If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t get there. That’s why it’s essential to keep track of all the tasks, projects, and goals you have on the go. Having a clear vision helps you avoid getting distracted by urgent items and focus on the important stuff.

5. Take Responsibility

A great leader takes accountability for their mistakes, accepts responsibility for the consequences, and never blames others. A good leader knows that everyone makes mistakes, but they also know that learning from them is part of the process.

6. Learns and Develops Skills

Leaders are constantly growing. They learn new skills, take on new challenges, and work hard to improve themselves. If you want to become a great leader, you need to do the same. Learning is the key to growth and helps you adapt to change.

How Can A Leadership Coach Help

As a manager, you already know the importance of being open and honest with your team members. But there are many ways you can coach them to become better leaders themselves. One of the best ways to do this is through mentoring programs, which pair experienced leaders with less-experienced ones.

These programs can help develop your protégés into future leaders. Another way to support your team is by teaching them to lead by example. When you take on a leadership role, you have to be willing to sacrifice your comfort for the organization’s benefit.

Coaches like Stavros Baroutas help managers become influential leaders. The Stavros Baroutas Android Application offers a fresh look at personal development with interactive coaching features and a goal-oriented approach. This app’s daily videos and podcasts will help you achieve your goals. After viewing these videos, you’ll have a different perspective on life because they’re so transformational!

How Can You Start Working On Your Leadership Skills

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for becoming a great leader. You need to find the path that works best for you. However, some common traits are necessary for success regardless of the method you choose.

You need to be self-aware, disciplined, and comfortable making unpopular decisions. You also need to be willing to take risks and accept responsibility for the consequences. To succeed as a leader, you must first recognize that you’re a leader.

You must then commit to the journey, and you must be willing to put in the work. Finally, you need to believe in yourself and your ability to make a difference.

Final Words

Leaders are constantly under pressure. As the leader, you need to balance the needs of your team members with the needs of the company. This means making tough decisions, sometimes without consulting anyone else. It’s not always easy, but if you’re committed to leading, you need to embrace the challenges. Once you’ve made it to the top, you’ll discover that the rewards are far greater than the stress.

Business

High Volume, High Value: The Business Logic Behind Black Banx’s Growth

Published

7 days ago

June 16, 2025

Matthew Wiles

In fintech, success no longer hinges on legacy prestige or brick-and-mortar branches—it’s about speed, scale, and precision. Black Banx, under the leadership of founder and CEO Michael Gastauer, has exemplified this model, turning its high-volume approach into high-value results.

The company’s Q1 2025 performance tells the story: $1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, $4.3 billion in revenue, and 9 million new customers added, bringing its total customer base to 78 million across 180+ countries.

But behind the numbers lies a carefully calibrated business model built for exponential growth. Here’s how Black Banx’s strategy of scale is redefining what profitable banking looks like in the digital age.

Scaling at Speed: Why Volume Matters

Unlike traditional banks, which often focus on deepening relationships with a limited set of customers, Black Banx thrives on breadth and transactional frequency. Its digital infrastructure supports onboarding millions of users instantly, with zero physical presence required. Customers can open accounts within minutes and transact across 28 fiat currencies and 2 cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and Ethereum) from anywhere in the world.

Each customer interaction—whether it’s a cross-border transfer, crypto exchange, or FX transaction—feeds directly into Black Banx’s revenue engine. At scale, these micro-interactions yield macro results.

Real-Time, Global Payments at the Core

One of Black Banx’s most powerful value propositions is real-time cross-border payments. By enabling instant fund transfers across currencies and countries, the platform removes the frictions associated with SWIFT-based systems and legacy banking networks.

This service, used by individuals and businesses alike, generates:

Volume-based revenue from transaction fees
Exchange spreads on currency conversion
Premium service income from business clients managing international payroll or vendor payments

With operations in underserved regions like Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, Black Banx is not only increasing volume—it’s tapping into fast-growing financial ecosystems overlooked by legacy banks.

The Flywheel Effect of Crypto Integration

Crypto capabilities have added another dimension to the company’s high-volume model. As of Q1 2025, 20% of all Black Banx transactions involved cryptocurrency, including:

Crypto-to-fiat and fiat-to-crypto exchanges
Crypto deposits and withdrawals
Payments using Bitcoin or Ethereum

The crypto integration attracts both retail users and blockchain-native businesses, enabling them to:

Access traditional banking rails
Convert assets seamlessly
Operate with lower transaction fees than those found in standard financial systems

By being one of the few regulated platforms offering full banking and crypto support, Black Banx is monetizing the convergence of two financial worlds.

Optimized for Operational Efficiency

High volume is only profitable when costs are contained—and Black Banx has engineered its operations to be lean from day one. With a cost-to-income ratio of just 63% in Q1 2025, it operates significantly more efficiently than most global banks.

Key enablers of this cost efficiency include:

AI-driven compliance and customer support
Cloud-native architecture
Automated onboarding and KYC processes
Digital-only servicing without expensive physical infrastructure

The outcome is a platform that not only scales, but does so without sacrificing margin—each new customer contributes to profit rather than diluting it.

Business Clients: The Value Multiplier

While Black Banx’s massive customer base is largely consumer-driven, its business clients are high-value accelerators. From SMEs and startups to crypto firms and global freelancers, businesses use Black Banx for:

International transactions
Multi-currency payroll
Crypto-fiat settlements
Supplier payments and invoicing

These clients tend to:

Transact more frequently
Use a broader range of services
Generate significantly higher revenue per user

Moreover, Black Banx’s API integrations and tailored enterprise solutions lock in these clients for the long term, reinforcing predictable and scalable growth.

Monetizing the Ecosystem, Not Just the Account

The genius of Black Banx’s model is that it monetizes not just accounts, but entire customer journeys. A user might:

Onboard in minutes
Deposit funds from a crypto wallet
Exchange currencies
Pay an overseas vendor
Withdraw to a local bank account

Each of these actions touches a different monetization lever—FX spread, transaction fee, crypto conversion, or premium service charge. With 78 million customers doing variations of this at global scale, the cumulative financial impact becomes immense.

Strategic Expansion, Not Blind Growth

Unlike many fintechs that chase customer acquisition without a clear monetization path, Black Banx aligns its growth with strategic market opportunities. Its expansion into underbanked and high-demand markets ensures that:

Customer acquisition costs stay low
Services meet genuine needs (e.g., cross-border income, crypto access)
Revenue per user grows over time

It’s not just about acquiring more customers—it’s about acquiring the right customers, in the right markets, with the right needs.

The Future Belongs to Scalable Banking

Black Banx’s ability to transform high-volume engagement into high-value profitability is more than just a fintech success—it’s a signal of what the future of banking looks like. In a world where agility, efficiency, and inclusion define competitive advantage, Black Banx has created a blueprint for digital banking dominance.

With $1.6 billion in quarterly profit, nearly 80 million users, and services that span the globe and the blockchain, the company is no longer just scaling—it’s compounding. Each new user, each transaction, and each feature builds upon the last.

This is not the story of a bank growing.

This is the story of a bank accelerating.