She looked around a little confused and said with a smile:” Oh, OK. I see what you’re doing. “

No... No, she didn’t.

Her facial expressions gave up what she was thinking: “Yeah, right... Guys.  Making fun of me here, he‘s testing me, maybe he wants to get the price lower or just playing around ….because I’m a woman.” That’s all she saw and looked offended.

She read the situation all wrong. None of it was as it seemed to her.

This moment, I still remember to this day as one of the most amazing examples of great leadership; happened after one of our sales meetings.

Our fine wine wholesale company’s owner Tom (himself an unmatched wine expert) together with our wine director (think walking encyclopedia of knowledge, experience, and super-palate) was meeting one of the new vendors. She brought in samples of her wines, convincing Tom to add them to our portfolio.

Illustrative picture - one of the best perks of my...

If not, maybe you should start! No, I don’t mean giving them a bunch of toys and puppies. I mean motivating them the same way you would if you were encouraging a child.

Remember how around 2 years of age, just as they mastered walking the stairs without falling on their tush – suddenly everything became “I will do it! Me! Myself!”?  From simple things like eating with a fork, peeling a banana (yes, even in the car!) to tying shoelaces. The progress is fast and enormous.

Sure, you can do it for them much faster and more efficiently.

But will your child ever feel the same sense of pride overcoming the obstacle and accomplishing the task? Would they learn?

They say, "show, don’t tell".

I say, "Ask, and let them solve it."

During my earlier days in wine sales, every once in a while, sales managers came up with a genius idea to boost sales. (When I say genius, imagine Bill Murray saying it with a smirk). They called it Fridays BLISS....