Which would you rather have on your team – A horse to be reined in – or one that needs to be prodded out of the gate?
By God’s grace (and lots of mercy) I lead a church in the middle of the horse capital of the world, so maybe this leadership analogy is especially appropriate here.
I would rather lead a horse I occasionally have to rein in than one I constantly have to prod out of the gate.
The same is true with people.
Healthy, growing organizations need self-starters. People who see something that needs to happen and start moving toward it. Team members who bring ideas instead of simply waiting for assignments. People who occasionally move faster than the structure around them.
In fact, that’s an environment we want to create.
Sometimes people grab forward and the structure gets in their way. When that happens, the answer isn’t always to slow the person down. Sometimes we need to rebuild the structure around what’s next.
Growing organizations will always have tension with their current structure. Growth stretches systems. What worked at one size may not work at the next.
That requires wisdom, of course. Initiative without alignment can create chaos.
A horse still needs reins.
But I’d rather have to redirect energy than continually manufacture it.
Leaders should ask ourselves – Have we created a culture where people feel permission to take initiative?
And team members should ask – Am I waiting for someone to tell me what I already know needs to be done?
Not every decision needs another meeting. Don’t take three weeks to make a 30-second decision.
Give good people as much clarity as you can. Set the boundaries. But give them authority.
Then let them run.
You can always pull on the reins when necessary, but it’s much harder to push a horse that has no intention of leaving the gate.
