Replace constraint with freedom

I spent a week with my wife, children and a very nice group of people. They had a topic for the week and it was freedom.

I had a short but precious talk with somebody from the group and the conclusion was:

Replace constraint and control with freedom and motivation wherever you can.

This applies for yourself but also for your employees or co-workers you need to cope with. Basically when you want people to act or behave in a particular manner and you force and control them, you tend to fail or at least loose a lot of possible power.

It is much better to hear them, communicate with them, tell them about the general goals and leave it up to them how to achieve those goals. And motivate them to listen (to you and to colleagues) and to introduce their own thoughts.

That way, you get real teamwork and the power that is within people working really together.

Related posts: Direction over goals, Principles over rules, The golden rule, Be united.