They had bigger boxes than expected.

Yesterday, we talked about ​making decision in boxes​. It’s our naturally developed pattern for our brains to manage an increasingly complex world.

This framework is also known as Bounded Rationality.

We make rational decisions within boundaries.

Moving into leadership from an individual contributor requires increasing the size of your boxes.

Similarly to your personal life, if you go from being single to married with kids. Your boxes have to get bigger because your decision-making now has to be optimized around more than just yourself - it has to include your spouse and children.

The brave part about being in leadership, and the quintessential characteristic of the best leaders, is to operate in the next level larger box.

Winston Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela.

Were able to think and make optimal decisions in a larger box than expected. Beyond their country, people group, religious circles, or race.

A small step for you today in your role as a leader (or individual contributor) is to reflect on the boundaries you currently have on your rationality.

• Do you fight for your team's budget without consideration of larger company needs?

• Have you ignored challenging issues present in other areas of your organization because they didn’t impact your team’s success?

• Have you pushed back on new initiatives that would limit your influence?

The question isn’t whether these actions were right or wrong. The encouragement is to reflect on what boxes you decided from.

Great leaders will step into the next larger box size.

You begin to define your team’s success based on the success of the whole.

We don’t win if you don’t win. We win or lose together.

That’s partnership.

And that's leadership.

Sawyer

from ​The Data Shop