“Why am I, the CEO, rewriting this press release at 9 PM? Why am I the only one who sees that this paragraph contradicts our core values?”

Oof. At this point, my client was visibly emotional, a mix of angry, frustrated, and simply tired.

And it’s such a common phenomenon.

In the meeting, everyone says “Got it,” but you know, for a fact, that they are going to go back to their desks and do the wrong thing.

So you have two choices:

1. Do it yourself.
2. Let them fail and clean up the mess later.

Both choices suck.
Both choices mean you are working late while they go home.

But there is a third option.

I looked at my client and said: “Stop trying to empower them.”

We are told that if we just “trust” smart people and step back, magic happens. Sounds good in theory. But in real life you have a “Black Box” problem.

Your team doesn’t have your ten years of context. They don’t have your scar tissue. They weren’t in the boardroom when a small tweak of a single line blew up.

Over the years, your “intuition” has become a high-precision algorithm.
To your team, though, it’s a Black Box.

They see your edits, but not your intuition. No amount of “empowering” can fix that. When you tell them to “run with it,” you are essentially asking them to guess.

And because they will frequently guess wrong, you end up rewriting it.

The third option is to open the Black Box.
→ Make your instincts visible.

Define what “good” looks like so clearly that good decisions do not depend on you being in the room.

Here are three simple ways to open the box:

1. Don’t delegate the task. Delegate the constraints.​
   Before they start, define the “Third Rail.” For example: “We can be funny, but we can never be sarcastic about the customer.”
2. Don’t edit. Audit.​
   When you rewrite a sentence, explain the principle behind the edit. For example: “I changed this not because it was too long, but because it sounded defensive.”
3. When you share the mission, share the mechanics, too.​
   They already know where the bus is going. You also need to teach them how you steer when the road gets slippery.

The trouble with “empower” is that it keeps you the person who knows the right answer. And therefore, the one rewriting things at 9 PM.
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When you open the box instead, your team can find better answer than you ever could alone.

Keep lighting the path,
Michael
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​If you’ve been wrestling with this for months … You’ve trusted your team. You’ve given them the benefit of the doubt. Let them fail. Communicated the strategy again and again and again … But you’re still doing your team’s job for them, maybe it’s time for the next step.
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I’ve opened up a few spots in “The Leader’s Path” coaching program. It’s for leaders who want to light the path, not just lead the way. Here’s more. Or simply reply to this mail.