Watching someone else excel can make you question your own gifts. But another person’s polish does not make your authenticity amateur. Excellence comes in different shapes.
My family has been farming the same West Virginia ground since before the Civil War. One hundred and seventy-five years later, the cattle are still escaping, the invasive shrubbery has filed for statehood, and nobody has ever once waited to be asked.
“Let me think on it” can be wisdom, avoidance, or a deadline in disguise. The real leadership skill is knowing which one it is.
The best learning often happens when the problem is real, the stakes are immediate, and you need the answer five minutes ago.