 Are monkeys jumping on your back? No, it's not some kind of April Fools' Day prank, it's a serious issue for leaders. Welcome back, and congratulations on taking one more step towards becoming one of the great leaders of tomorrow. One of the most widely read Harvard Business Review articles ever is from way back in 1999, and it talks about how some leaders assume problems that members of their team should be solving. If you want to read the article, click on the link below. Now the article gives a lot of great tips on how to implement rules to keep people from bringing those monkeys to you and letting them jump on your back. But what we're going to talk about today is how to foster a culture of initiative on your team so that your team members can solve these problems instead of bringing these monkeys to you. Building a team that is willing to take initiative to solve problems without being told to do so is a great way to keep those monkeys from jumping on your back. Every problem that gets solved by a member of your team without any guidance from you is one less monkey that you have to handle. There are a few ways you can get your team to take initiative to handle those monkeys before you have to hear about them. First, don't just assign your team members tasks or duties, give them problems to solve or areas of responsibility, and give your team members appropriate authority to go handle those problems or responsibilities without your guidance. Encourage creative and innovative solutions on your team and allow your team members to pursue these solutions within the authority you've given them. And it's really important to allow your team to make mistakes. People can learn far more from a few false starts than from immediate success. And having to refine their solution over and over again until they get it right can help bring the best possible solution to light. The key to getting your team members to take initiative is building trust. The trust that you have in your team determines how much authority you give them so carefully consider what decisions you're willing to let them make on their own and what decisions they have to come to you for before they act. The trust that your team has in you will determine how willing they are to refine solutions on their own or how willing they are to take a chance where they might make a mistake. If your team feels that you won't back up their solutions or that you'll punish them for making an honest mistake, they'll be less likely to take initiative in the future and that means more monkeys for you. Building a culture of initiative on your team is one tool you have as a leader to keep those monkeys off your back. If you found this helpful, follow us on Twitter and Facebook and don't forget to join us every Friday at 10 a.m. Pacific Time for a live interactive leadership discussion on BLAB. Click off on that globe to the right. Don't forget to subscribe to our email list and that'll bring all of our content direct to your inbox. I want to thank you for watching today. I really appreciate it. And remember, the future is out there. Lead the way.