The Tell Is In The Ask

“Asking you” means I want your best work, I want you to make mistakes, I want you think about your steps, I want you to consider, reflect, ruminate, observe, ponder, engage, discuss.

“Telling you” means I want what I want. How I want. Precisely.

As a paid employee, most days I will ask you to do something for me.

Some days I will tell you to do something for me.

On those days I tell you to do something, do it, with purpose and without question and as error free as you can.

These are the moments that bottom-lines, careers and lives hang in the balance. Now is not the time for experimentation or your belief we should talk about it.

When you’re working for a boss (not a leader) who tells you to do something every day, get out, and get out fast.