Burn the Boats

As I type this, I'm somewhere over the Atlantic at 35,000 feet.

In front of me a man is complaining to his friend about letting some of his employees go. The complaining is targeted towards their inability to "get it."

"They just didn't get it," he states 5 times throughout a couple minutes.

The complaining continues on, and I hear him mumble about the 3 employees he let go, and how they weren't motivated.

This short, overheard conversation led me to wonder how that man values his own leadership.

What could he have done to help them "get it," or to motivate them?

Throughout history there have been a handful of narratives mentioning a captain and his crew arriving to a new, undiscovered territory, or arriving to a battleground shore in which they're outnumbered. Upon arriving, the captain then orders the boats be burned. This would be a maniacal action to most, but it was a powerful way to rally and motivate--after all, it removed the option of retreat. It was conquer or die.

Whether it's in business or not, you must convey the clearest message, motivate, and help everyone to "get it."

This is your responsibility as a leader. Especially in times of peril.

If you can't burn your boats, maybe it's you that weren't meant for the job.