Here’s how to move beyond relying on one “all-star” and start developing leadership across your entire team—by shifting how you set goals, delegate, and build trust.

Invision May 2026

ARE YOU THE ALL-STAR on your team? Most opticals have at least one. Whether it be the owner, manager, or that go-getter employee. Many of our opticals are lucky to have an all-star, a Michael Jordan on the team. This person is super valuable and often appreciated by coworkers. They wear many hats, carry the majority of responsibility, and are praised for an amazing work ethic.

Some might think, “Well I don’t have a team that is motivated,” or “We’ve always done things this way. No one can do it as well as I can.” To those leaders, I would challenge a shift in how you are leading your team. I work with hundreds of independent optical teams. Many of which have built a kind group of helpful and supportive employees with their one super motivated person on the team. Adapting the expectation of teams in my Spexy member practices has revealed one very important thing about optometric teams: Leaders are hidden among you.

Many of you have multiple leaders already that can be shaped to become amazing pillars of your optical’s success. Let’s review a simple three step process that has proven to foster growth and expose leadership qualities among your existing optometric team.

Set a Goal, Then Trust: In his book Who Not How, Dr. Benjamin Hardy details the importance of explaining “what” the goal is and “why” achieving this goal is important. Understanding the “what” and “why” fosters buy-in from the team. Then the hardest part is for you to sit back and trust the team to figure out the “how.” Most of us are managing our team in a transactional way. We set a goal and lay out a step-by-step plan of how we believe they can achieve the goal. This leaves the team’s tasks very transactional.

Do as I say … Do “X” and the result is “Y.”

This transactional work leaves a lack of excitement in achievement and zero room for creativity. Alternatively, allowing the team to figure out the “how” creates a sense of pride and ownership in achieving the goal. You’ll quickly notice other leaders emerge when you remove yourself as the problem-solver. Set a goal, explain the “what” and “why” then trust them to figure out the “how.”

“What do you need from me?”

This prompt is powerful for the team to gain your support. Making it known that you are available to gather resources or provide tools needed, but refrain from stepping in to solve the problem. In psychology this is known as Autonomy support. When you set the goal and step back to let the team determine how to achieve it, you are building the team’s motivation and confidence.

Set Check-Ins: Forgetting to declare a check-in is a big mistake. Upon assigning the goal, declare when you are going to check-in on the team’s progress of how they plan to achieve the goal. Based upon your goal start date or deadline set a check-in or two and stick to it. Randomly checking-in too often will signal that you don’t trust they can do it on their own. While never checking-in signals that the goal you assigned didn’t matter much anyway.

Follow the QR code to watch a video with examples of how this can be applied when setting a goal of increasing your multiple pair sales. The key psychological effect is that team members begin to internalize the goal as their own, not one imposed on them. This becomes a goal they are genuinely invested in achieving. Most of you have your all-star but giving your Michael Jordan the support of a Scottie Pippin or two is how you build championship teams.