My neighbor, who lives across the street, has a three year old son. Preston is great at repeating what you reward.

If he wants to hang out with my 13 year old son, he yells “Ben come sit” from his front yard.

Ben will relucantly walk across the street and sit on the grass in the front yard with Preston. Preston shows him bugs or leaves. Ben’s not excited to sit with Preston but he does it. How do you say “no” to a cute toddler? You don’t.

Rinse. Repeat.

If you are struggling with getting your team to focus on the right work priorities, figure out what you are rewarding that is not in alignment with those priorities. And remember you also get what you tolerate.

We often avoid conflict and difficult conversations. Don’t.

"Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life." —Jerzy Gregorek

And go sit with the toddler that asks you to. You just might discover a really cool bug in his little hand.