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Follow Their Lead
Table of Contents
Join their world - topic, pace, starting point - before trying to steer.
Key Concept
- Skip their starting point and you are fixing a problem they were not naming.
- Level 1: Start where they are, not where you wish they were - like directions from the wrong corner send them wrong.
- Level 2: Follow their lead is like trying their recipe once before you rewrite it - connection precedes correction.
- Level 3: Because connection precedes correction, running their play once proves you understood before you redirect.
- Level 4: Listen, run their version once, then offer your fix - connection first, critique second; the redirect lands after they know you heard them.
- Level 5: Run their version once before you redirect - pairs with Listen Before Fixing when the fix is right but the timing kills trust.
- Connection first, critique second - run their play once before you offer yours.
- The redirect lands better once they know you actually understood their version first.
Examples
- My teammate wanted to run a inbound play I would never seen - I ran it once before I told him how I would do it.
- A coworker walked me through how she tracks patient callbacks - I watched the whole spreadsheet before I offered to reorder her columns.
Note Relationships
| Relationship | Wikilink | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| contradicts | Safety Comes First | when following them would allow serious harm |
| extends | Process Over Outcomes | Small moments of attention beat one perfect conversation |
| extends | The Golden Rule | I would want someone to enter my world before they fixed mine |
| implements | Continuous Improvement | Trust builds through repeated small acts of attention, not one grand gesture |
| implements | Emotional Regulation | I hold the urge to interrupt, correct, or take the wheel |
