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1/16/ The Art of Intervention Knowing when to intervene is one of life’s toughest lessons. The older I get, the more I see situations where I know exactly what’s going to happen before it unfolds. It might be something small, like a kid trying something you know is a bad idea (like sticking

2/ their tongue to a frozen pole). Or it could be in a professional setting, where someone on your team is headed toward a mistake you could prevent. The hard truth is, you can’t—and shouldn’t—step in every time. When I was younger, I used to intervene all the time. If I saw someone heading

3/ toward a mistake, I’d try to stop them before they got there. But what I learned is that people don’t always appreciate that, and more importantly, it doesn’t always help them. There are lessons in life that you can’t teach—people have to learn them on their own. Unless it’s going to be a

4/ catastrophic mistake, you sometimes have to stand back and let things play out. Watching that can be hard on your psyche, especially when you know what’s coming, but it’s part of life. Parenting taught me this in a very personal way. As a parent, your instinct is to protect your kids from

5/ pain and failure. But you quickly realize that if you shield them from every mistake, you also rob them of the chance to grow. It’s a delicate balance. You don’t want them to get hurt, but they need to learn how to handle challenges, failure, and recovery. It’s the same in the workplace.

6/ If you’re leading a team, you have to let people take ownership of their work and learn from their decisions. Growth often comes from struggle, and mistakes are part of that process. Still, the art of intervention is all about timing. You need to know when to step back and when to step

7/ in. If the mistake is small and the lesson valuable, you let it happen. But if the mistake could have major consequences—a missed deadline that hurts a customer, for example—you need to intervene before it’s too late. The trick is to communicate in a way that prevents mistakes before they

8/ even happen, and that’s where clarity is key. Brene Brown’s book Dare to Lead introduces a concept that’s helped me tremendously in professional settings. She talks about the importance of "painting a picture of what done looks like." This means being crystal clear about what success

9/ looks like for a task or project. A lot of mistakes happen not because someone isn’t capable, but because they didn’t fully understand what was expected of them. When you take the time to communicate the outcome—what done looks like—you reduce the chances of things going sideways. In

10/ business, this applies especially to deadlines and deliverables. If you’ve assigned a task, make sure the outcome is clear from the start. Explain why the deadline matters and what happens if it’s missed. People are much more likely to stay on track when they understand the stakes. At the

11/ same time, give them the autonomy to work. You don’t want to micromanage; you want to guide. By setting clear expectations and creating check-ins along the way, you build in opportunities to course-correct if needed, without stepping on someone’s independence. This approach is powerful

12/ because it lets people feel ownership over their work while still providing the guardrails they need. Think of it like a time box for mistakes. You give them the space to stumble, learn, and grow, but within limits that protect the bigger picture. That way, you’re only intervening when

13/ it’s truly necessary—like when a deadline is at risk or a decision could have major consequences. Ultimately, the art of intervention is about balance. It’s about trusting people to figure things out while still being there to guide them when needed. Whether it’s your kids, your

15/ of what done looks like, set expectations, and establish check-ins. Then, let people do the work. Step in when the stakes are high, but otherwise, let them learn through the process. It’s not always easy to watch, but it’s often the best thing you can do—for their growth and your peace of