Leaders face constant pressure to move faster, make better decisions and cut through large amounts of information. You see new frameworks, new ideas and new success formulas every week. Many sound helpful, but very few hold up when you look at how real businesses run and how real teams work.

The most effective principles come from people who work inside complex environments every day. People who understand what it takes to build a strong culture, ship reliable software and manage a large workforce with accuracy and confidence. These leadership lessons from OAHI CEO David Thompson reflect that view. They come from years of leading teams, building operational systems and working directly with enterprise clients across multiple sectors.

These five lessons give you a clear and practical guide to modern leadership, WFM strategy and long term execution.

1. Focus beats the all in one promise

Many technology vendors try to offer a single platform that covers HR, payroll and workforce management. This approach sounds efficient, but the outcomes rarely match the promise. When a company spreads attention across several major domains, one area always attracts more resources. Usually the area that produces the most short term revenue. Workforce management becomes a minor part of a much broader system.

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This creates three problems.
• Reduced depth in award interpretation and regulatory compliance
• Limited flexibility in scheduling and operational alignment
• A slower product roadmap due to competing internal priorities

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David Thompson views this as a strategic risk for customers. Workforce management is a complex and critical operational discipline. You need strong rules engines, strong scheduling intelligence and strong compliance controls. These features need full attention. They cannot sit behind HR or payroll in priority or investment.

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A focused WFM platform gives you clear benefits.
• Better control over award rules and pay accuracy
• Roster design that aligns with demand, service levels and cost targets
• A mobile experience that supports every worker, no matter the industry

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This is the foundation of OAHI’s strategy. WFM is the only domain the company invests in. That focus supports innovation and gives customers a platform that fits real operational conditions. It also attracts employees who want to develop deep expertise instead of working across unrelated product lines.

As a software provider, you will struggle to deliver a great workforce management platform and a great payroll platform and a great HR platform because your attention will be pulled to the thing that drives the most revenue.

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2. Strong ideas rarely start in a boardroom

Many organisations rely on senior leaders to set direction and strategy. David Thompson takes a different approach. He places stronger value on ideas that come from people who work directly with customers and partners.

Teams in consulting, support and customer success hear real feedback every day. They understand what works, where friction sits and which workflows create the most operational pain. They see patterns long before executives do. They hear what customers need to fix now and what they need to plan for next quarter.

OAHI uses a value that reinforces this behaviour. No egos, just ideas. Every person can raise issues or opportunities. Every suggestion receives attention. Leadership treats these insights as early indicators and as inputs for product direction and service improvement.

You also gain value from younger employees who see technology in a different way. They bring new thinking on user behavior, productivity and the role AI will play inside workforce systems. When you combine experience with these early career perspectives, you create a more complete understanding of what customers expect.

This approach builds a culture where people feel trusted. People contribute more when they see their ideas taken seriously. You also make better decisions because they come from direct and current information.

The value of no egos, just ideas is about getting the person at the front line to float ideas and share what they hear from the market.

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3. A leader’s mission is to develop people

Growth targets and market share are important, but leaders cannot build strong companies if they ignore the growth of their teams. When David Thompson speaks about his role, he speaks about watching people progress, gain skills and become confident in their work. He views that as the most important part of leadership.

Employees want to contribute to meaningful work. They want to see their progress. They want to gain experience that sets them up for larger responsibilities. When leaders support those goals, they build teams that stay engaged and perform at a higher level.

This approach also strengthens business resilience. Teams who feel supported in their development handle change with more confidence. They share knowledge. They solve problems faster. They work with stronger purpose because they know leadership cares about their growth.

This mindset shapes OAHI’s talent strategy. The company wants to bring in strong talent and give them the environment to take on ambitious projects. When people eventually move on to new roles in their careers, they leave with strong capabilities and a clear record of contribution.

We want to be an organisation where people want to come and work with us and build skills that help them do ambitious things.

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4. Speed creates momentum

Technology changes quickly. Customer expectations change with it. Leaders cannot wait for perfect products or long development cycles. Delayed action results in missed opportunities.

OAHI prioritises speed. The company ships features early, listens closely to customer usage and adjusts quickly. This applies across the platform and across the AI program. Real progress comes from consistent cycles of release, learn and refine.

This approach helps customers because they see value sooner. They engage in the improvement process. They provide real usage insights that help shape the next iteration. You build a stronger product because decisions follow evidence, not assumptions.

For leaders, the lesson is clear. Speed supports execution. You gain more information when products are in use. You remove guesswork. You reduce the risk of building the wrong solution over long development windows.

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5. Workforce Management is a deep discipline

Many leaders view WFM as an extension of HR or payroll. This can lead to operational issues. WFM controls labour cost, compliance, scheduling accuracy, service levels and employee experience. These are core operational levers.

David Thompson treats WFM as a mission critical system. He compares it to ERP in terms of depth and operational influence. You need strong domain knowledge to manage awards, understand sector rules and support complex roster environments.

This is why OAHI combines technology with access to workforce specialists. Customers want certainty. They want partners who understand their sector, their operating model and their compliance requirements. When software is paired with strong expertise, organisations make better decisions and reduce operational risk.

WFM has very deep complexities that need to be tackled.

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Closing thought

These lessons share one message. Focus produces better outcomes. Leaders who commit to depth, support their people, listen to frontline insights and move with speed create stronger teams and more reliable operational systems.

The question for leaders becomes direct. How much value could you gain by committing to focus, by trusting the people closest to your customers and by treating WFM as a discipline that deserves full attention and investment?