The CEO grabs the mic to announce the new initiative:
“Team, we’re gonna run a marathon. And it’s gonna be amazing. We’re gonna crush the competition.”
And immediately, about a quarter of the team cheers out loud. They love running, and a marathon is what they always wanted to do.
But the others? They fall silent.
Some of them aren’t good at running. Some of them outright hate it.
But the CEO insists: “We’re gonna do that marathon. It’s the way. Just believe!”
And eventually, that’s what the team does: they follow.
But no matter how hard the CEO tries to motivate them, some of them will never love running.
But you know what? Some of them love cycling and they’re actually good at it.
And so, what if he just let them cycle? Not only would they enjoy the path much more, they’d be much quicker than he could ever run.
Imagine just a little tweak in his language. What if he had said: “This is the path, but how you travel it is up to you. The goal is to get to the finish line.”
What a difference that makes, doesn’t it?
Not only will most of the team enjoy the journey much more, they feel empowered because they feel that the leader trusts them.
Now, how about your business? Where could you give a little more trust to the team?
Where could you light the path, but trust the team with knowing how to travel that path?
Keep lighting the path!
