For me, the best kind of leading is when you don’t have to do any. The best soccer team are the one which members know what to do and how to support each other without the captain or the coach shouting at them and telling them what to do. The best choir is the one who doesn’t need any conductor because the music leads them naturally.

To be able to do this, however, you need a few prerequisites.

  • the ability to screen the right teammates
    • so that you bring in autonomous people who can lead themselves and own their work
    • so that you don’t bring in incompetent people or dangerous people that will undermine the team
  • a clear purpose for the team to set their eyes on
  • a clear “why” (a.k.a. Commander’s Intent)
    • so that the team knows why they are moving toward a goal, why they are taking a certain path toward it, and how to improvise when a blocker arise
  • the ability to set good structures (incentive structure, organizational structure, communication protocol, etc.) that can help the team on their way to reach their goal

There might be a few other prerequisites that I miss. But, once you got the above prerequisites down, you’ll be able to just kick back and let your team move forward on their own.

Or, you can help them by removing obstacles, improving the structures, etc. Just make sure to not meddle with their work. Autonomous people love to make art on their own.