The Best Question Ever And How To Help Others Grow

funny face.

Lead or be liked is bogus.

No doubt, one of the most challenging parts of leadership is facing into the conversations no one else will, but someone must. It’s also the most rewarding.

That’s where it’s at.

Growth happens in the last one percent, in the ‘thing behind the thing’ that most are unwilling to point out. And that’s why—leaders say what peers wish someone would say to their co-workers.

Unfortunately, that means not everyone will like you; but they will have to respect you—if you do it well.

I’m human.

I like to be liked, but I’ve learned to love watching others soar more.

So how do we help others grow?

We care enough to share what’s holding them back and walk with them through whatever’s next. 

When we do that, they begin to grow. And when your people start growing, they have no interest in going anywhere.

Simple right?

But there’s a catch.

If you don’t genuinely care, you need to focus there first. And possibly buy a nice tent. After that, it might be time for some camping.

That will make sense later. I promise.

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Why Encouragement Is The Nourishment We Need Right Now

a mid-pandemic picture of productivity.

Today is traumatic. We were not designed to carry this much weight in perpetuity. Constant pivoting wears people down. And whether we know it or not, after more than a year of trying to lead through this craziness, we are all experiencing some degree of trauma with a healthy dose of PTSD to wash it down.

We are not entirely out of the covid-woods yet, but we are running out of gas. And to top it off, the way we work has fundamentally changed, maybe forever. “We can either run from it or learn from it,” as the wise baboon ‘Rafikki’ once said. (Lion King)

Decision fatigue is now a default setting for leaders after facing impossible scenarios and lose-lose catch-22’s day after day with no definitive end in sight.   

Our teams are looking to us for answers that nobody has, not even Fauci. We are exhausted. Some leaders have already tapped out.  

But I’m afraid it won’t be decision fatigue that ultimately takes us out; it will be a lack of encouragement over a long period of time…

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