Pace

# Chapter 191

Pace your leadership to the speed of the people you are leading. Another Lincoln leadership lesson. And the people you are leading are likely either moving much slower than you or much faster than you. I know that you believe they are moving slower rather than faster, but you will be surprised at what is going on between their ears. This is not an intelligence matter, this is an understanding matter. And the people you are leading have a different understanding of what widget you are making, than do you. Different is different, not better or worse, but different and that also means that they will be able to move slower or faster than you based on what they grasp.

But the real point here is to adjust your leadership style and speed to those that you are leading, not trying to get them to move at your speed. If you spend all your energy trying to get them to move at your speed, then you lose what they bring to the table, you lose their expertise, you lose their perspective, you lose their input you lose all the primary values that they bring you and your organization. Lead at their speed, pace your leadership.

I know a pastor and he is a very gifted person. In fact he is about 10 times more gifted than is his congregation. I have encouraged him to move on to a different location because this one frustrates him endlessly because he is not willing to change the pace of his leadership! If you are an intellectual Einstein and your people are mentally lazy and deficient and want to be spoon fed, then this is a recipe for high disappointment. Pace your leadership, or lead something else.