Conor Neill

I grew up in a school where not everyone could afford new textbooks. Some students studied from books that were 30–40, sometimes even 50 years old—worn out, taped together, full of notes from previous generations, and often no longer aligned with the official curriculum. And yet, the smartest and most motivated students still managed to get the best results. The book wasn’t perfect—but they took responsibility for their learning. I genuinely admire Conor Neill. I love his clarity, his way of speaking simply and briefly about complex topics, and his ability to inspire reflection. I completed his free email course and enjoyed it so much that I bought two more of his courses on Udemy, including Leading Yourself and Others. That said, I have to be honest: the execution of this particular course fell short of my expectations. What’s missing most is structure. There’s no clear roadmap, no strong sense of progression, and no guidance on daily or weekly actions. Yes, you’re given a substantial workbook to work through during and after the course. Yes, there are several short but inspiring videos. But after that, you’re largely left on your own. I suspect many students may feel a bit lost—like being dropped into the middle of the ocean with a notebook and very few directions on where to swim next. The irony is that the content itself is good. The questions Conor raises are important. The exercises in the workbook are thoughtful and genuinely useful. But only very proactive learners will take full ownership of the process—take the bull by the horns, seek additional resources, rewatch videos, read the referenced books, and build a daily practice around the exercises. That’s exactly what I ended up doing. In a way, this course reminded me of those old school textbooks: all the essential formulas and answers are there, but the learner has to do a lot of extra work to make sense of them and apply them consistently. That can be powerful—but it’s definitely not for everyone. I believe the course could be significantly improved with a clearer structure. For example, each lesson could include: - one mindset or reflection video, - one theory component (a book, article, or concept), - and one concrete practical exercise from the workbook. With this kind of format, more students would likely reach the end of the course and extract much more value from it. The potential is absolutely there—the content is strong—but the way the course is designed limits how many people can truly benefit from it. If you’re highly self-driven, you’ll get a lot out of this. If you’re looking for a guided, step-by-step learning journey, you may find it frustrating.
- Review by Alexander Maltsev on Leading Yourself and Others