Someone once said, “You should never tell Babe Ruth how to hold a bat”.

Truer words were never spoken and yet everyday, I work with managers, who have employees with a 1000 batting average, who insist on telling them how to hold a bat.

Process, policy and procedure are critical elements which allow us to consistently replicate desired outcomes.  But once those are memorizialized, routinely reviewed and improved, the employees who work within them should be turned loose and allowed to fly.

 Leaders who insist that employees should perform every task, approach every project, finalize every sale, exactly the way the manager would, is severely limiting the potential of the business and, more importantly, the employee.  If you have an employee who comes to work eager to do their job everyday, who knows themselves well enough to work efficiently and effectively, give them the sign to swing away.

My best advice to managers and leaders - get out of the battersbox today, don’t start coaching until they approach first and give them the room and equipment to knock the ball out of the park, every single day.  I promise you, they will.