IV&V Team Lead. Senior Scout Observer. Guest Lecturer. Adjunct Professor. Sergeant in the Army in command of a Fire Team. Dance Instructor. Portfolio Design Lead.
I've done a few weird jobs. . . One thing all of those had in common -- whenever people are doing an activity voluntarily--they generally want to get better at it.
That's why Bill Hewlett's quote sticks with me:
" . . . men and women want to do a good job, a creative job, and if they are provided the proper environment, they will do so."
I've learned this lesson -- as a leader and as a teacher, over and over again, over the past twenty years. Students have failed my tests. Soldiers have gotten lost after I handed them a map. Employees had found new and better opportunities than I provided.
Along the way, I've see the negative impact that my failure to effectively nurture, empower, and embolden the people that I lead has had.
And when I have gotten it right, the people I serve have blown me away with creative solutions, incredible growth, and hard work in impossibly stressful, challenging situations.
At some point, I stopped thinking of enablement as a nice idea, and started thinking of it as a survival skill.
Since then I've made a point to work to identify ways to create useful, malleable tools that people can use to grow their own skills and track their progress.
Sometimes it's as simple as making a point to engage with my organizations design critique.
Sometimes it is rolling up your sleeves and building a checklist that helps a new employee feel confident they are on the right path.
Sometimes it's taking a vacation and asking your team to take turns sitting in for you, so they can start learning the leadership skills they will need later on in their own career, and promising that you'll stand by any decision they make when you return, with full confidence that they'll do the best job they can with the information they have available.
Putting faith in the people around me has made me a better leader, and has paid powerful dividends, for myself and for the organizations I've supported.