Let someone else take the reins for bit - it’s not a failure, it’s growth.

I am going to talk about horses for a bit, don’t worry I promise it is connected to your career. Many of you know I am an equestrian. As part of my passion, I focus on continued growth for me and my horse by working with a trainer. I started my horse, Pickles, when he was only 30 days under saddle and today he is a reliable horse that jumps courses. I did not get there on my own. My trainer would work with Pickles two days a week and I would lesson two days a week. But in those lessons, there were countless times where I would get off Pickles and my trainer would get on. There were times where I wasn’t getting the concept and my trainer would get on to show me. There were times where Pickles was feeling fresh and wild and I didn’t have the confidence to handle his zoomies on my own. There were times where I was having an off day and just needed some help setting Pickles up for success.

I always value these moments. My trainer rides and thinks about horses all day, every day. She has more experience and knowledge. Each time I gave her the reins or in some cases she took them, I learned by watching. Sometimes she got the kinks out to set me up to learn the concept in a safer way, sometimes she worked out the harder parts, and sometimes I just watched so I could mimic. Then she would give the reins back, I would get back on and practice. This strategy helped when there was just too big of a gap between my ability and where my horse was. So my trainer closed the gap to help me learn and grow in a positive way. 

There are times at work, I implement this same strategy. As a product leader, I author docs. Sometimes I can own them end to end, but there are times when I struggle to get it right for my audience. Many times I asked other product leaders to take the reins. Yes, I can ask for comments and feedback, but sometimes it just takes more. They rewrite, edit, add, and remove content. For example, I usually can nail the structure of the doc and the facts, but sometimes I struggle weaving in the perspective I wish to share. One of the leaders in AWS Identity has over 19 years experience writing docs for Amazon leadership and it is one of her super powers. When I am stuck, I give her the reins. When I get back the doc it is always in a better spot and I feel better. I review the changes and work to understand them deeply. I ask when I don’t understand and make note of patterns. This is where the learning happens. And as I got better in my own doc writing over the years, I now take the reins for others every now and then too. 

I have seen this implemented in different ways at work. Peer programming can be used to share information and bring along developers while keeping the ownership. These sessions focus on communication and shared goals. Handing the reins over can be helpful for docs, code, presentations, and other deliverables. 

The last thing I will call out is that giving the reins to someone is not a failure, it is a path to learning and growth. Sometimes you just need to watch someone get it done and mimic for future deliverables.