The other day I was at the dentist getting a check-up. After the standard wait, I was led to the back. I was then placed in the fancy chair with the blinding light above my head.
During the visit they said they were going to use a diamond to even out a part of my tooth. Now I happen to be familiar with diamonds. I have used a diamond drill in the past to cut concrete. I have also purchased my wife a diamond ring. So I know 1 thing for sure…
Diamonds hurt! They cut things and dig deeply, especially into your bank account!
This particular diamond was just for teeth (sounds like fun!). The dentist began to drill away and I began to smell burning. Now, I am not an expert, but generally burning is a bad thing.
When it was all finished, I had survived and actually felt no pain.
Image courtesy chrisroll/DigitalPhotos.net
When I thought about this situation, I boiled it down to this:
It’s good to tell people where you are going.
Setting expectations puts people at ease. When they know what to expect, they are able to handle the bumps in the road and small detours a lot better.
If the dentist had told me that I should expect some grinding noise, but no pain, I would have known what to expect and wouldn’t have been concerned when I experienced the burning smell.
Rarely is anyone frustrated when expectations are met. It is when our expectations aren’t met that we experience frustration.
When you are leading a team, you can’t just run ahead. If you do you will always leave people behind.
Vision casting is showing people the finish line. Between here and the finish line there are going to be a few bumps and curves in the road.
When you come up to those curves or bumps, alert those following you, let them know what to expect. That way they can gently lean into a turn.
Speaking of leaning into a turn, the first winter my wife and I were married we were living in the Great White North (also known as Canada).
I took her out for a ride in the snow on a six wheel vehicle that has a zero turn radius. It was a great time.
At one point during our expedition we were going down a hill. I took a sharp turn at the bottom of the hill and my wife went flying out of the vehicle and landed on the ground. Good thing she had a nice thick coat of snow to break her fall!
I didn’t let her know the turn was coming, so she was unable to prepare. Even though she was more than willing to come for the ride my lack of communication caused her to get left behind!
Don’t leave those you lead behind. Let them know where you are going. Alert them of bumps in the road and make sure you tell them when you are going to be making a turn.
That way they will be able to make the turns with you.
Comment below and answer: What can you do for your team to alert them of the next curve in the road towards your team goal?
