A colleague told me a story recently about getting to run a few laps on a race track.
First lap, he did fine. He hit the marks he thought he should. But he knew he could do better. He asked the pro driver in the passenger seat to take the wheel and show him how to really drive it.
And just like that, everything changed.
The pro traced perfect lines. Took corners tighter, braked later, carried more speed. When he got back in the driver’s seat, he shaved seconds off his time. Not because his skills suddenly leveled up. Because now he knew what was possible.
He’d seen the line. And he couldn’t unsee it.
That story’s stuck with me because it hits something I’ve experienced over and over. Not just in work, but in life.
Growing up, I learned how to fix cars by working alongside my dad and brother in the garage. I learned how to do projects around the house from working with my father-in-law. YouTube tutorials are popular for a reason. We all move faster when we can see someone do it first.
It’s true in tech leadership too. Especially now, with things like AI.
You can read all the blogs and skim all the headlines. But there’s something different about sitting next to someone who’s done the lap before. Someone who knows the track and isn’t guessing. It gives you confidence. It gives you a model to build from.
But the flip side matters too. We have to be that person for others.
It’s easy to move into a leadership role and forget how powerful it is just to let someone ride along with you. Not to lecture. Not to perform. Just to do the work with them so they can see the line.
Most of the growth I’ve had in my life didn’t come from being told what to do. It came from seeing someone do it well, right next to me.
That’s the kind of leader I want to be.