Leadership
I Believe in You
Belief without investment is encouragement. Belief with investment can become formation.
In 2014, I joined a triathlon team and signed up for a full Ironman: a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run.
There was a problem.
I did not know how to swim. I had not ridden a bike seriously since I was a kid, and the last time I ran I had torn my calf badly enough that I had been told I might never run again.
The swim scared me most. I did not need to learn how to splash my way across a pool. I needed to learn how to swim 2.4 miles in open water with hundreds of other people around me.
I did not think it was possible.
My coach was not particularly impressed by my doubt.
He simply said, "I believe in you. I will teach you."
Those were two different gifts.
"I believe in you" gave me hope.
"I will teach you" gave that hope somewhere to go.
The next day we met at the pool. He started by teaching me how to float. Then came the kick, reach, pull, and breathing. One piece at a time.
In days, I could swim a length of the pool. In weeks, I could swim multiple lengths. In months, I could swim 2.4 miles without stopping. We moved into open water and practiced race starts with people swimming close enough to make the chaos feel real.
Eventually I became an Ironman finisher. I've swum long open-water events I once could not imagine.
But the part of the story I think about most is not the race.
It is the leader who saw possibility before I did.
We use "I believe in you" pretty freely. It is a powerful sentence. But belief becomes something deeper when it is paired with investment.
A leader can encourage from across the room.
Formation usually requires coming alongside.
That may mean teaching. Creating an opportunity. Giving honest feedback. Staying through the awkward first attempts. Allowing someone to wobble without taking the work back from them.
Belief without investment is encouragement.
Belief with investment can become formation.
Sometimes the most important thing a leader can give someone is not an answer. It is the combination of belief and presence:
I see something in you. And I'm willing to stay and help you build it.
Belief without investment is encouragement. Belief with investment can become formation.