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APX-V-0022

“I took the heat so my team could do their best work, and they delivered.”

APX · Pillar II — Apex APX-V · Protect Those Beneath You.

You stood in front of the pressure instead of passing it down, and the people behind you found room to be excellent. That is leadership doing its actual job — the work worth doing is the work that keeps those depending on you in health and comfort. Don't go looking for credit. The result is the credit. Their best work is the receipt for your shield.

Your Practice

  1. Name the heat you absorbed that they never had to feel. That absorption was the leadership.
  2. Push the credit for the result down to them, publicly and specifically.
  3. Don't make them grateful for protection — make it the floor they get to stand on.
  4. Notice what they built with the room you gave, and give more of it.

The Architects

“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing; and this is a prize open to every man.”

— Theodore Roosevelt, Address to the New York State Agricultural Association, Syracuse, NY, September 7, 1903

More under APX-V

APX-V-0001“Someone weaker than me is getting crushed and I'm just watching.”APX-V-0002“I'm finally using my strength to lift others up.”APX-V-0003“I'm mentoring someone and watching them grow.”APX-V-0004“I realized I've been protecting the wrong things.”APX-V-0005“I'm stepping into a leadership role for the first time.”APX-V-0006“A child or young person in my life is struggling and needs guidance.”
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