No one likes being told what to do. And many people have a propensity to do the very thing they’ve been told not to, just to prove that no one is the boss of them. If you’ve spent any time around children you’ll have experienced this firsthand.
Adults are no different. They might dislike being told what to do even more than do children. Yet how often do you tell others what they should and should not be doing? How often do you believe your opinion and your way of doing things is the only and/or best way? How often do you believe that you’re in charge? That you’re the boss? That because you said so, everyone around you should do exactly as you say?
Maybe you are the boss, the one paid to be in charge. Do that title and paycheck legitimize your demands and justify your expectations of how everyone around you should behave in response to you?
What if you played differently in your own sandbox? What if instead of dictating the rules, you share your vision and/or your need and ask for participation and gather agreement from the very people on whom your success is dependent.
You might be surprised to discover how many people now want to play with you because they feel you care about their opinions, feedback and buy-in.
Experiment. Play. Let go of your attachment to telling. Pretend you’re not a dictator. Build a bigger sandbox.
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