Last night I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Renee Moorefield, president of Wisdom Works. 

In last night’s Fit to Learn presentation, Renee spoke about the many factors that can get in the way of our individual learning and growth.   Two of her messages struck me as being particular powerful and relevant to leading change:

• Do you want to be right or do you want to be effective?
• Are you willing to “lean into” being in a state where you are not in control?

It occurred to me that if the answer to the first question is “I want to be effective” it follows that the answer to the second question needs to be “Yes”.   

I know that I am guilty of falling into the trap of thinking that I can and should control most (if not) all aspects of my work.  When working with others in any capacity, my natural instinct is to move into “selling and telling” – getting others excited about an idea or vision (selling) and then telling people what to do!  Needless to say, that doesn’t often work.

As executive coach, Scott Eblin teaches, being effective at leading requires being able to let go.   Let go of having all of the answers.  Let go of telling others how to get the job done. 

I know for me, it is not easy to let go of control.  It helps me to realize that I need to if being effective matters more than being right.