Opposites

Leadership, itself, is not a fundamentally complex thing. 
Listen actively, be aware of how you make decisions, and be a champion for the success of your team even when it gets in the way of your personal interests. 
Leadership is easy to make complex. 


While leadership as a theory can be made simple, the in-the-moment application of it is less so. 
This is because leadership is a balance of opposites. 
You are constantly negotiating between simple, pithy principles that also can be mutually exclusive in the moment. 


For example: as a leader you need to slow down and create space for your team. 
You also need to be decisive and create momentum when things get stuck. 
Knowing when to pull the “slow down” lever or press the “decisive action” button is the hard part. 


Both approaches are “correct” in leadership theory. 
Thus the real work of a leader: knowing what you need to know but investing most in your ability to refine and apply knowledge to new and nuanced scenarios. 
Great leaders did not learn a complex concept at just the right time; they developed greater skill in balancing simple yet opposing concepts during complex situations. 



Grab your coffee we are going to the moon,
-Morning Cup