When patience becomes harder

He didn’t get it again.

Same task.

Same instructions.

Third time this week.

You know that moment

when you can feel irritation

climbing your throat?

The kind of frustration you try to hide

behind a “professional tone,”

but it leaks through anyway.

But instead of snapping,

I asked,

“What part was unclear?”

He looked down.

Hesitant.

Then he said quietly,

“I think I understood it…

I just didn’t know how to start.”

That stopped me.

All this time,

I thought I was giving directions.

What he really needed was guidance.

He wasn’t lazy.

He was lost.

And there’s a difference.

Leaders often mistake clarity for understanding.

We assume words automatically translate into execution.

But people don’t follow

what they’re told.

They follow

what they grasp.

Don’t assume your team has the same experience,

the same confidence,

the same context as you.

They don’t.

Not yet.

That’s why you’re the senior.

That’s why you’re the leader.

Leadership isn’t a test

of how well others keep up.

It’s a measure of how far you’re willing to slow down

so they can catch up.

That afternoon,

I stayed a little longer.

We redid the task together.

He took notes.

Asked better questions.

And I saw the spark

I thought he’d lost.

Maybe the real measure of leadership
isn’t how many times you repeat instructions.

It’s how many times you choose patience
when giving up would be easier.