In leadership, telling people what to do can move the immediate process along, but if not done well, can undermine your long term goal of having people do things on their own. This is the same for parenting, teaching and leadership within a business or organization. The purpose of meetings and conversations should not be to announce decisions, but to arrive at them together.

Companies, churches and schools can only grow to the size of their competency. In order to grow, you have to build trust and autonomy in others. One person has a limited ability to not only do things, but to see and know things. To build out, you have to let the people under you give you feedback into your decision making process. You have make time to seek out and hear their points of view, make adjustments and give them the tools and support to lead within their areas of talent and ability.

All the body parts are attached to a nervous system that not only move on demand, but also report back information. If the foot moves forward only to hit an obstacle, the nerves send back pain signals. A healthy body then knows it needs to change it’s approach. Maybe a hand removes the obstacle, maybe there needs to be a shift in course. Should we go left, right or over? Repeatedly kicking the object will eventually damage the foot and it will quit performing to the desired level.

If you find you are continuing to hit walls, you need to step back and reassess. Pay attention to the information coming in, especially from your points of pain. Your extremities aren’t annoying you for pleasure, they are begging for help. Listen to them, share your goals and arrive at solutions together. Otherwise you will have to fully stop and heal before moving forward.