In corporate leadership, factors like hierarchy and deference have often been front and center, yet a generational shift in the workforce may be pressing executives to reconsider how power is exercised and how culture is cultivated. According to Forbes, Gen Z now increasingly favors a more collaborative and empathetic approach over traditional hierarchical models, responding well to leaders who champion emotional intelligence.
Terrell Washington, founder of Leaf Relief, views this transition as both inevitable and necessary. Through the sustained growth of his independent dispensaries and manufacturing facilities, he offers a working model of what culture-first leadership can achieve. At its heart, he brings a framework which he calls PCP, an acronym that alludes to his line of work, and stands for People, Coaching, Profit.
“I tell every employee that I expect us to disagree. I want us to disagree. That disagreement just has to be purposeful and respectful,” Washington shares. What he is cultivating is not friction for its own sake but disciplined discourse, the kind that can surface blind spots before they crystallize into operational inefficiencies.
Drawing on his pre-law background and the Socratic method, he regularly challenges his own reasoning in real time. In that process, he invites his team to interrogate assumptions alongside him because, as he insists, intellectual tension, handled with respect, can produce alignment.
“A yes man would never work for my leadership style,” he explains. He maintains a culture in which respectful dissent is celebrated, positioning it as a prerequisite for trust. Team members, he notes, are encouraged to articulate counterpoints, and once a decision is reached, they move forward with shared understanding, not reluctant or undiscerning compliance. Washington also points to the increasing scrutiny of moral coherence within an organization and advocates for transparency and self-awareness as the currency of credibility.
“Accountability is often seen as a taboo word, where many shy away from it, but in order to be successful on your own, you have to be grossly self-aware, recognize the good and bad, and hold yourself and the team accountable,” Washington explains. He drew this perspective from a video titled It’s Your Fault, which, he notes, became a personal mantra reframing how he interprets organizational strain. “If I’m frustrated with my employees, it’s my fault,” he says. “I didn’t do my job to give them the tools and the knowledge they need to not frustrate me.”
He extends the principle further by arguing that if a problem can be reduced in severity, then the leader’s responsibility lies in reducing it, because ownership restores agency and redirects energy toward resolution. At Leaf Relief, Washington demonstrates how those beliefs translate into performance.
He recalls his entry to the cannabis industry, noting how it was rooted in lived experience. Diagnosed with Crohn’s disease as a teenager, he managed escalating symptoms with conventional medication until, at 27, he tried alternative substances during an active episode. “Within half an hour, I felt like my symptoms had become manageable, and I saw the potential this industry held,” he says. The moment shifted his perspective to become a purposeful participant, particularly as he noticed Ohio’s medical market gaining momentum. Before launching Leaf Relief, Washington led operations for the Black-owned franchise within a multinational fast-food joint. There, he refined competencies in inventory management, pricing architecture, and multi-unit leadership, all of which he later adapted to Leaf Relief.
Throughout his work across sectors, Washington has championed an operational lens that is distinctly athletic. He notes hiring “punters,” borrowing the analogy from American football to illustrate the value of specialists who may appear briefly yet alter the trajectory of the game. He develops managerial depth to mirror the way a sports franchise may cultivate its academy, allocating talent strategically to strengthen the broader system. “Everybody has value, but nobody’s bigger than the team,” he says. “I’ve parted ways with close ones when cultural integrity required it. It‘s imperative that professional standards remain consistent if the organization is to endure beyond any single personality.”
Furthermore, Washington selects locations with cultural fit in mind, treating neighborhoods as partners whose trust must be earned and sustained. He notes that despite facing well-funded competitors, the company has continued to remain independent by managing its finances wisely and focusing on mutual accountability.
“Profit is the result,” Washington remarks. “It’s not the starting point.” By concentrating first on people, he challenges executives to trade ego for endurance, clarify expectations, and encourage constructive arguments. In practicing those principles himself, he has built a structure where performance grows organically and where resilience and accountability are embedded in the culture itself.
