Many successful business leaders struggle to apply their professional skills at home, creating a disconnect between their workplace effectiveness and relationship success. This gap often leads to frustration and missed opportunities for deeper connection. Dennis Crosby, who has built multiple seven-figure companies over 15 years, works with men to bridge this divide by teaching them how leadership principles can strengthen both their businesses and marriages.
The Experience Behind the Insight: Understanding the Disconnect
Dennis brings a unique perspective to this challenge, having experienced both significant business success and failure. “I have personally built multiple companies over the last 15 years over seven figures. I’ve led large teams and I also failed greatly in leading a business as well,” he explains. His work now focuses on helping men understand how their leadership approach affects their marriages. Through this experience, he discovered something crucial: “The same things that I was failing at in leading a business were the same way men were struggling in their marriage.”
Why Work Leadership Doesn’t Translate at Home
The fundamental difference between workplace and home environments creates this leadership gap. “The big reason why men are able to lead and show up at work and not at home is simply because they’re not trying to have an intimate relationship at work,” Dennis notes. Professional success doesn’t require vulnerability or deep emotional connections. “The business world doesn’t put any pressure on that. You don’t have to be vulnerable to succeed. You don’t have to have deep connections with other people to be effective.”
This creates problems when those same approaches are applied at home. “As a leader at work, you’re primarily fixing problems. When you come home to your wife and she tells you about her day or a problem she’s having, she’s not telling you to fix it, she’s telling you to connect with it.” The skill sets that drive professional success can actually become obstacles to relationship intimacy.
Transferable Leadership Skills That Strengthen Relationships
Despite these differences, certain business leadership principles translate well to marriage. Dennis identifies three key areas where men should maintain their leadership approach at home.
Make Decisions and Stay Proactive
Stop defaulting to your partner for every household decision, from weekend plans to child-related choices. “A lot of guys will default to letting her make all the decisions,” Dennis explains, which creates an unhealthy dynamic. Take ownership of planning and decision-making while addressing small relationship issues before they escalate. “When you spot small problems, you fix them while they’re still small instead of waiting for them to become big.”
Take Full Responsibility for Your Relationship
Adopt the leadership mindset that everything stems from your approach. “Just as a great leader knows that all the problems that are happening in the organization or on their team stem from them, it’s the same thing in marriage,” Dennis notes. This perspective transforms you from victim to creator. When you take responsibility for relationship outcomes, you gain the power to actively improve them rather than blame external circumstances.
Learn When to Connect Instead of Fix
Resist the urge to solve every problem your partner shares with you. “Not every problem your wife shares with you is being shared to be resolved,” Dennis emphasizes. Sometimes she’s sharing to connect emotionally, not seeking solutions. “She’s just sharing because it makes her feel better to express herself and she’s fully capable of solving it.” Recognize these moments and offer understanding rather than immediate fixes.
Leadership Approaches That Backfire at Home
However, some business leadership habits can damage relationships. The urge to fix everything tops this list. “While there definitely will be problems that you need to solve, not every issue requires your intervention. Your wife may simply be sharing to connect rather than seeking a solution.” Understanding when someone needs connection rather than solutions requires a different skill set. Over-delegation presents another challenge. Many men adopt the approach of “I’ll go out there, I’ll provide, I’ll make the money, I’ll do all that. You run the household.” Dennis warns that “running the household is actually quite a lot. There are a lot of things that can become quite overwhelming and we downplay, we devalue that workload.”
Dennis sees bigger challenges coming. Technology and AI will change how we work and live. “We’re essentially all going to be living how we saw millionaires and billionaires living 30 years ago,” which will “increase the demand on finding purpose, increase the demand on finding meaning in your life.” He expects relationships to face new pressures, similar to what happened during COVID when couples spent more time together. “Having strong leadership skills and starting to invest in the equity in your relationship, getting your marriage rock solid so you’re prepared for the increased burdens that are coming” becomes crucial.
His final advice is straightforward: “If you’ve been leading successfully in your organization, you have everything you need to be able to lead your marriage to higher ground. If you treat your marriage as if you were trying to build the greatest organization in the world, it will activate your assets, bring them into the home, and will allow you to win.”
Connect with Dennis Crosby on LinkedIn or check our his website to learn how he helps men bring their leadership home and thrive in both business and marriage.
