There used to be 27 letters in the English alphabet. The 27th was an outsider. It looked weird. It had a strange name (“and, per se, and”). The other letters didn’t like it. So they shoved it to the back.

That outsider is now the ampersand. And it became more famous than half the alphabet.

There’s a leadership lesson hiding in that history about empowering different employees. The ones who don’t quite fit the mold, the ones with the weird name and the curlicues instead of straight lines, those are the ones you have to fight hardest to empower. Get it right, and they become the magic. Get it wrong, and you lose them to somebody else.

In this episode, I unpack the etymology of the ampersand, the 5 leadership lessons it teaches us about empowering different employees, and the uncomfortable truth that your best people are supposed to leave you.

🎧 Press play. Different is where the magic happens.

In this episode:

▶ The 19th century English alphabet that had 27 letters (and how the 27th became the ampersand)
▶ Why “different” is where the magic of team growth actually happens
▶ The 5 leadership lessons hidden in the ampersand’s history
▶ Empower, Mentor, Collaborate, Communicate, Recognize Potential
▶ Why empowering different employees protects them (and you) from churn
▶ Why your best people are supposed to outgrow you and leave
▶ How to spot the ampersand in your own team

If you’ve ever had someone on your team who didn’t quite fit the mold, this one’s for you.

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