Land The Plane.

One of my all time favorite books is by Bob Goff and it's called, "Everybody Always." In this book, there is a chapter called Land the Plane and it uses a great example share the importance of trust, and it often comes to mind when I find myself wanting to micromanage.

Every Thursday, I attend Salt Company Cedar Rapids which is a college ministry in Cedar Rapids, IA. One of my favorite parts about the SALT organization is that they greatly emphasize the importance of community. After the back end worship, most everyone stays around for about an hour and spends time in community, which often results in groups of people going to do something afterwards. Last night, me and a couple of guys decided to go grab ice cream. When we got outside, my friend Mario asked if we could take my truck. He truly does just think it is the coolest thing and he had been bugging me for a ride in it. (Just for perspective, I drive a Tacoma that I am in the process of setting up for overlanding/off-roading. It's a whole community similar to the Jeep community that some might even call a cult. Haha!) Of course we could take the truck! We got in and I can't tell you the joy that came from Mario's excitement, but it gets better. After ice cream, we were getting ready to leave and I am a firm believer that at the end of the day, it's just a vehicle, so I asked Mario, "You wanna drive?" When I tell you his face lit up, he was glowing. We were only a couple blocks from the church, but I told him to take the long way if he wanted - he did, of course. I ended up letting him drive around downtown for probably 20 or 30 minutes and we had a great time listening to music and cruising.

Here is where the importance of trust comes in though. I didn't tell him this at the time, but I'm sure he will read this and start laughing; it took every ounce of strength in my body to not tell him how to drive. I'm in college, still paying on my truck, and man would it really stink if something happened to it. I just kept telling myself, "Let him land the plane." Here is the idea - Mario knows how to drive. Mario didn't need me to tell him how to drive. Sure I was a little nervous, but my nervousness was in no way interfering with Mario's ability to drive, so long as I kept my mouth shut. I could have opened my mouth, but that would have only been frustrating for Mario and overall ruining a joyous moment for the both of us. Joyous because Mario was excited he got to drive it and I was excited that he was excited about it.

I think whether it be work related or non-formal task related, we get so caught up in wanting it to be right that we totally disregard the fact that someone already knows how to do the task. Specifically as leaders in a work setting, we often get worried that since we also take responsibility, we need to make sure it is being done correctly. If you trusted them enough to hire them in the interview, then you should trust them enough to do the job. You don't know if you can trust someone until you trust them; so let them land the plane.

"It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do." -Steve Jobs

Leaders who know how to let others Land the Plane are the indirect, constant encouragement in the ears of their team, saying, "You can do it! I believe in you!" If you struggle with letting go of the controls, try it. You might be amazed at the passion that comes to life in their work, and the joy you find in leading a successful and passion driven team. Let them land the plane.