Find the "goldilocks" zone

In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear mentions the Goldilocks rule. 

The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right.

Clear didn’t make this up to sell a few extra copies of his book. He borrows this concept from psychology research - the Yerkes Dodson law says the same thing. To apply this principle at work, you need to understand your people intimately. Not as a collective, but as individuals. If you can’t individualise, then you’re leading too many people. In that case, devolve leadership responsibility to others on your teams.

When you know your people well through intentional interactions, such as 1:1 check-ins and regular feedback, you will learn about their skills and abilities. You’ll make the most of your people when you can get them into the Goldilocks zone more often than not. You can do this by shaping up work effectively and by then matching the right groups of people to these problems. This calls for hands-on leadership. You can’t just be an advisor. You need to understand the details.

Not too easy. Not too hard. Just right.