[sokoloff]

In the short run, I may very well be unhappy in those examples, but only if the client ended up unhappy or if the team performance took a sustained dip. Some clients care greatly about budget. Some team’s morale improves when poor performers leave. The people closest to the client/team probably can make a better decision than I can. IOW, maybe my approach would be the wrong one.

I’m also confident that I can work with those hypothetical leaders because they share a common foundational compass.

I can talk about the trade offs of time/budget. I can talk about the trade offs of morale vs peak individual performance. Most importantly, I can be sure they have a guiding framework that pulls us in the same direction, even if the near-term paths are different.

I have two leaders working for me today (one of whom may well read this) who make markedly different decisions than I would. We talk openly about it; they get great results for the company via a different route to the same destination and I don’t try to make them into mini-mes. (I lead quite differently than my own boss as well.)

There are many paths to Rome.