Trust, But Verify.

In film study, Coach Leach used to use a saying from Ronald Reagan whenever a quarterback said, “Well, I thought they were doing ______.”

Coach Leach would respond, “In that situation, do what Reagan said about the Russians during the Cold War. Trust, but verify.”

As a quarterback, you have to trust your preparation, your read, and your instincts. At the same time, you have to verify the information once the ball is snapped.

A defense might show you one thing before the snap and then do something completely different once the play starts. You have to trust what you see, but you can’t just blindly throw the ball based on the picture the defense gave you pre-snap. You have to verify it after the snap.

I believe the same thing can be said about leadership.

Trust that when you coach or teach somebody underneath you, they understand what you are asking them to do. But also verify it.

If you ask somebody, “Do you understand?” most people will just nod their head and say yes. Instead, ask them, “Walk me through what you are going to do.” Have them explain it back to you or demonstrate it. That allows you to make sure your message was actually understood instead of just assuming it was.

The same thing applies when you delegate an important project. Trust the person you gave it to and allow them to take ownership of it. But don’t wait until the deadline to find out that it is way off track.

Set up a couple of checkpoints along the way. Ask how it is going. Look at the progress. Make sure you are both still on the same page. If something needs to be corrected, you can fix it before it becomes a much bigger problem.

No micromanaging... Just verifying that the train is on the tracks and headed in the right direction.

"Trust, but verify." – Ronald Regan

Easy Easy,

-Luke Falk

See you next Monday!