Tremendous Tracey

Authoritarianism. Attractiveness. Dominance. Nobody wants to circle a 5 next to those words in a room full of their peers — and in three years of running this exercise, nobody has. But our people never stop scoring us on them. Rank has its privileges, and it has its responsibilities, and the leader who sets hers down at the door is the only one in the room who thinks that part of the test is over.

Empowering is drawn out; enabling is dumped in. People who are willing to be developed need a hand up, not a handout. I'll do anything for anyone, but if you will not begin to pick up your own slack, I'm off to spend my resources on someone who'll use it to put their lives on a whole new trajectory. That’s genuine compassion and tremendous empowerment. Until the recipient owns their part of fixing life, the only thing they’ll want from you is more enabling. Give people the tools, and not just the solutions, and let them get to work. Invest in people wisely so you can help them and not hurt them.