7.
LET THEM SOLO

You will never learn if people can generate ideas for themselves unless you allow them to generate ideas for themselves. So give them a chance.

Charge them with the responsibility of coming up with the solution to some problem, and see how they do. Put them in charge of something, and see how they do.

Your faith in them will make them have faith in themselves.

That is why so many people (like Harry S. Truman and Vince Lombardi) come through with flying colors when forced by circumstance to take on jobs hardly anybody thinks them capable of handling.

Don’t wait for circumstances. Let them solo before they are forced to.

Let me tell you a story:

I always believed that the people who created ads or commercials should present their ads or commercials — if they wanted to — to the client.

So when Adam Kaufman, who was just “the kid in the mail room” at the time, came up with a series of wonderful radio commercials for Denny’s, I asked him if he wanted to present his ideas to Barry Krantz, Denny’s marketing director.

“Absolutely,” he said. And off he went.

The next day, Barry called me and said: “I like the way you run a place — having faith in your young people, giving them a push, a chance. Adam’s a bright young man. He did great.”97

Of course it could have been a failure. Even a disaster.

But if you want to help people retain their belief in their own guidance, you must take chances every now and then.

When it works, you’ll not only boost their self-images, you might even get a boost for your own.