Do You Lead? Or are You Led?

Imagine this: You’ve been doing your job for a while. A new supervisor steps in. He sends you a long email telling you in detail how to do YOUR job.

This happened to me. At first I was annoyed. Then I thought he was trying to be helpful, so I cut him some slack. But I wish that before he sent instructions, he had listened to me first (after all it was my job… he’d never done the job.) I also wish he had talked to me in person. (It’s easy to miscommunicate in email.)

When a new leader tries to rule instead of serving, he arouses resistance. Sometimes the best way to lead is to let yourself be led. – Shar McBee

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