My number one goal in any leadership position is not to do the best work, but to empower others to do the best work.

If I am doing the best work, there are some real problems.

• I have hired poorly. My team members should complement my strengths by being great at areas where I am not, just as I am good at things they are not.  Their daily focus on an individual job should surpass my possible performance in both skill and volume of output.
• I am not sharing information. Hoarding information for myself does not allow others to do their best work simply because they are trading on poor information.
• I am not teaching others. An important aspect of leadership is coaching.  I should constantly be raising up others, creating an environment where they can improve each and every day.  As a visionary I am always looking for what might be and putting these aspirational goals in front of others allows them to raise their expectations.
• We are not built to scale. One person doing their best work is additive.  Teamwork is multiplicative.  When I empower others, we can advance in multiple areas at once.  If I try to do it myself, it is slow going, limited by my own capacity.
• Our culture sucks if I am the only one that cares about the cause.

I can tell the difference in my performance simply by my energy level.  During those times I am empowering others, it is energizing and rewarding.  I can see progress everywhere.  During those times I withhold empowerment, I was drained.  It is stressful and taxing, mostly seeing the negative elements.

I am pretty sure my team can tell too.

Therefore, I begin and end each day with this reflection.  How am I going to empower the best work in our key areas?  How did I empower the best work?