Play the ball to the right SPACE.

It took me years of playing soccer to have a major epiphany:

You don’t play the ball to the right PERSON.

You play the ball to the right SPACE.

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It occurs to me that managing, and coaching, are similar.

If you play the ball to the right space, you’ll entice the person to run into, and grow into, that space.

Playing the ball to the person is surely easier — but it’s static, doesn’t encourage growth, and doesn’t move the person, or your team, forward.

Play the ball into the right SPACE!