Flames Don't Fuel a Fire

During our stay in Asheville, NC, I faced a unique challenge:  Building a fire.Not a push-button gas fire, but an authentic, kindling-and-matches, singe-your-arm hair fire.

Not an easy task for someone who flunked Cub Scouts after never earning a single badge.

Alas… when on your honeymoon, and romance is on the line…anything is possible.

After meticulously selecting logs, strategically stacking them, and diligently lighting handfuls of dry twigs and scraps of newspaper, I learned a key lesson:

A successful fire must have a base of hot coals.

All these years I believed that flames fuel the fire.

Nope.

Flames are a bi-product. The awe-inspiring dance of the blue and orange flames is short lived without the ongoing support of red-hot coals.

Flames don’t fuel the fire – coals do.

Contrary to popular opinion, engaging leaders are not the flames, they are the coals.

Like coals they operate at the base level, out of the spotlight. They enable their employees, the flames, to thrive and get the attention they deserve.

In what ways do you deliver the energizing foundation required for your employees to thrive?