The title of this podcast might be confusing. If you’ve followed this podcast for a while, you know I talk a lot about treating employees with respect. You might be thinking, how is stressing out your people respectful? Well – it’s all about growth. You’ve probably heard the phrase “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” This episode talks about the importance of challenging employees. It’s about putting them in circumstances beyond their current capabilities to give them a chance to learn and grow. Too many companies give their hard jobs to senior employees and they never let the new employees get the opportunities to learn. Great leaders provide those opportunities.

Leadership expert, Robin Sharma describes what it is like when new employees are challenged “As you move outside of your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal.” The only way to get to higher levels of performance is to be stressed and stretched. In today’s episode, I’m going to tell you a story from my days as a junior officer on board the nuclear submarine USS Tennessee and how my captain was an expert at “pressure testing” his new employees.

If you want to learn more about how submarine captains “pressure-test” their crews, pick up a copy of my latest leadership book. I cover this in depth in chapter 7 of All in the Same Boat.