Neo was happy in the matrix – as long as he didn’t know it existed.

But once he took the red pill, he could see the world as it really is. Did that knowledge make him happy? No, it turned him into a revolutionary whose very life was in danger!

When we lead our clients, giving them not the work that they are asking for, but the work that they need, they can sometimes end up feeling like Neo.

Once you show them that they could get a better result, once you reveal the flaw in their thinking or the insight that changes everything, it doesn’t make things better – it makes things worse.

“If what you are saying is right, we’ve got a lot of work to do…”

Leading the client is more than having the brilliant insight. If you want to lead the client, you need to understand clearly the implications of that insight.

• What will knowing this demand of your client?
• What will they need to make use of that insight?
• What will they need from you to do that?

Deliver them a plan that takes all that into account, and they will follow you anywhere.

But if you give them the insight without the plan and you’ve led them off a cliff!