The amazing Mary Kay Ash often said to her sales directors, “You cannot teach what you do not know, and you cannot lead where you will not go.” It is probable that this quote is not original to Mary Kay, but she is the first person I ever heard it from. The Colonel said, “You can’t just tell people where to go and expect them to go there. You have to be willing to go there yourself, and then make a compelling case for why they want to go there too.”
While I have often said that a leader doesn’t need to know everything, or be the best at everything, it is ill-advised for any leader to expect their team to do something they are unwilling to do. As leaders, we are responsible for establishing the vision and for guiding the team to that vision, and we are also tasked with communicating exactly how the achievement of that vision is going to affect and benefit each member of the team. What’s in it for them?
In addition, sometimes, we also have to be willing to get into the trenches, to pull out a proverbial machete and hack through the undergrowth for our team and with our team, until they can see and proceed toward the vision on their own.
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