The 10-Second Rule

Ask a leader when they first noticed the problem, and they can usually name a moment. A meeting. A missed number. A look across the table.

Then ask when they finally addressed it.

The gap is usually measured in months.

Here's what fills that gap: deliberation. Is it bad enough? Am I overreacting? Is this the right time? The leader treats "should this conversation happen" as a judgment call that needs more evidence, and the evidence never feels sufficient, so the question stays open. For months.

The 10-Second Leadership Rule closes it. One question:
If this continues, will it become a problem?

If yes, the conversation should happen soon.

That's the whole rule.

Notice what the question doesn't ask.

It doesn't ask you to solve anything. It doesn't ask whether you're overreacting. It doesn't ask if you're ready, or if they're ready, or if the timing is right. Every one of those questions can be argued with, and arguing with them is how a tension stays unaddressed for two quarters.

"If this continues, will it become a problem?" can't be argued with. You already know the answer. You knew it at the meeting, at the missed number, at the look across the table.

The rule doesn't ask you to be brave. It asks you to notice. Noticing is the gap most leaders skip, because noticing creates an obligation and deliberating postpones one.

Try it today. Take one tension you've been sitting with and give it the ten seconds. The question settles whether. Everything after that is just how.

Urgency resolves whether. Preparation resolves how.

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In all that we do, let us seek wisdom, discipline, courage & justice.

Be well,

Keita

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