Quotes from Erika Andersen

Unfortunately the few employees who are consistently poor at keeping agreements often have the ability to convince you that it's somehow your fault they're not succeeding.

Achieving mastery requires breaking through the shell of your own limitations—both actual and imagined—and struggling up to the freedom and enjoyment of real skill.

The only real measure of the effectiveness of my teaching is what happens in the mind of the person learning.

Effective delegation is the single most powerful way for you to build trust in your employees' abilities.

manager's bill of rights," those basic things that you have a right to expect from your employees. Responsible employees: Are responsive to feedback Keep their agreements Manage their own growth Are "Good Company Citizens

Someone who's responsive to feedback would listen without interrupting, blaming, or accusing; ask questions for clarity; engage in discussions about next steps; and make efforts to change the behavior.

Responsible: (1) Liable to be held to account for discharging one's duty; (2) Able to make moral or rational decisions on one's own and therefore answerable for one's behavior; (3) Able to be trusted or depended upon; reliable.

It seems to me there is always pain—or at least discomfort—involved in getting really good at something.

The ability to learn quickly is the most important skill to have.

MOVING TOWARD MASTERY Don't Stop Yourself Honor How You Learn Practice

Omit any language that's blameful or accusatory: you're not trying to make the person see the error of his/her ways, or feel bad—you're simply making it clear that they no longer have a job with the company, and telling them what will happen next.

Employees who consistently behave as though it is your responsibility to "make them successful"; who blame you or others for their lack of success; who don't take the initiative to learn and grow—these employees are not fulfilling a key part of their role. It's easy to get pulled into their worldview; that is, that their role is to be a passive observer of your efforts to "grow" them, and that it's your fault if it doesn't work.

So, what's the key difference between a good citizen of a group and a poor one? I find that the most useful place to draw the line is at the issue of others' rights. Employees who respect others' rights are aware of where they stop and the other person starts; they don't habitually do things that undermine, inconvenience, or intrude upon others.

if you're telling yourself that learning to do something differently is "fake" or "inauthentic," it may simply be a convenient way of rationalizing your lack of aspiration.

One good thing about aspiration is that it's quite easy to tell whether or not you have it. If you're not actually taking steps to do something, then you don't really want to do it, no matter what you're telling yourself. Your aspiration is insufficient. Period.

good summary: to hire people who are a good fit for your vision, your organization, and the job itself; to listen to them, challenge your limiting assumptions about them, and deal with them as individuals; to create clear agreements with them, provide balanced behavioral feedback, and delegate appropriately and well; to coach them to develop in areas where they have potential and interest.