Rebel with a Cause

A boss of mine once told me “you’re rebellious, you don’t like rules.”

“That’s not true,” I replied. “I’m a creative, so I look beyond the limits but I always follow the rules. Set up parameters and I adhere to them.”

He looked at me wide-eyed as if I wasn’t self-aware. “You push back all the time! I tell you something that the Boss wants and you tell me why that’s not the answer. He’s the Boss!”

That example doesn’t work for me. “Pushing back when you don’t agree with the direction or see a better solution isn’t rebellion, it’s responsibility. It’s about belief and principles,” I say. “I’m not saying we don’t give the Boss what he wants, but I am saying that we don’t end it there. We present what we know. We present what the company needs to then have a conversation. The Boss doesn’t have our jobs. We have our jobs. It’s on us to respectfully present and even fight for what we know is right for the business.”

Hierarchy isn’t a parameter. It’s a structure.

There’s a quote I love which entreats its listeners to remain open to new ideas. "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation."

When faced with a crisis or a question, we need not be afraid of knowledge because it won’t change the facts — only our interpretation of them.

Just doing what is asked has limited way too may businesses. The great brands deliver needs that consumers didn’t even know they had. The same can be said of great employees. Good team members can (and will) give you what you ask for. Great team members evolve the request into something bigger.

Leading a team isn’t like running a drive through window. It’s about setting up parameters and then allowing your idea to evolve. There is no ego. It’s about possibility.