How much patience is too much patience?

If you’ve ever made popcorn, you know the smell of freshly made popcorn is just magnifique. There are a few early pops. Then a noisy rush. And then a few stubborn kernels that refuse to play along, no matter how long you wait. Then, the most important question: When do you stop?

Same question when you lead teams: How long do you wait for someone to “get there”? Do you keep the heat on because potential exists? Or do you step back before the rest burn to a crisp?

Leaders tend to confuse equality with outcomes. They wait for everyone to pop. Same result. Same moment. Same finish line. It sounds fair. It feels humane. And it’s usually the fastest way to lose the people who were ready early.

Equality in leadership is not equal outcomes. It’s equal conditions. Same expectations. Same access to support. Same time in the pan, so to speak.

Obsess over the quality of opportunity you provide, not the outcome.

If you give everyone the same time and conditions, outcomes will differ. That’s reality.

For the young leaders who have had a meteoric rise to the top: they understand the value of a leader who saw the kernel pop first, and took them aside. To make them do bigger things.

As a leader, you owe it to them to validate: was this a flash, or a diamond waiting to be polished?

If you insist on waiting for identical outcomes, you don’t become fair. You become reckless. The early performers burn. The best of the best will leave, and you're left with, well, you know what you are left with.

Patience is not waiting forever. Never has been.

fin.