Today we’re gonna talk about the four quadrants where leaders can operate.
Here we have Know All, Know Not, Tell All, and Tell Not.
As a leader, I always thought you wanted to be a Know All/Tell All leader. Since the leader knew everything, they were the natural person to give all the orders and since we had someone giving all the orders, well, they really better know everything.
I’m suggesting that a better place to be, long-term as a leader, is over here in the Know All, but Tell Not quadrant. Why?
Because, over here is where you resist telling your team what to do. Even though you may see the problem first, you may see the solution first, you say “Hey, take thirty seconds”, (thirty minutes, thirty days, whatever you can) , “go work on it and come back, then tell me what you intend to do.”
It might not seem like you’re making progress, but what’s happening is, you’re building your team’s leadership muscle. They’re building their independence from you, they’re building their ability to make decisions, and they’re building their leadership.
So where you want to be is a Know All, but Tell Not leader.
I’m David Marquet, that’s your leadership nudge.
