I’ve worked with two highly successful businessmen this year (the former a marketer, the latter an engineer) and a common theme can be seen in their “management” style: they don’t impose upon others strict deadlines or expectations.

They are both smart enough to realize that pushing someone to reach certain specific goals that they (the leader) set is short-sighted, and that the ideal arrangement is for someone to set goals for themselves.

Although it’s challenging to avoid saying, “do [task] by [deadline],” the art of leadership is to create a leader who self-manages, not an employee who looks for guidance at every turn.