Control

Our society and our human nature approves of taking command or grabbing sole authority. Since I am the owner, “I have a right!”   When one has complete control like president of a promising business, we need to retain a gentle touch. In the horse and buggy era, the drivers guided the horse gently. There were only three times we needed to use the reins. One time is when we flip the reins to tap it on the horses’ hips to speed up. Another time is to pull on one rein to turn the direction of the horse. The only time we pulled hard or with authority was to have the horse stop.

So in leadership, seventy-five to ninety percent of the time we are to lead or guide gently. The rare time is to stop a person when the actions are ruining the product, reversing standard procedure, or creating undue cost. So it is wise not to be demanditory or authoritarian more than ten percent of the time. If we are bossy more than ten percent of the time, we are misusing our control.