Don’t write checks on someone else’s account.

One of the quickest ways to damage a relationship is to commit someone else to a task or a deadline without discussing it with them first. Whether it’s promising your spouse will chaperone a field trip, the assault team can rescue the hostages, or the spacecraft is go for launch.

Don’t commit to yes. You need to discuss it with the team. Do commit to that and to when you’ll be back with an answer.

It may ultimately be your decision. But everyone appreciates being consulted and resents being ordered. Be a leader, not a boss. Plus there might be a fundamental reason why what was asked for simply can’t be done, period. That they’d tell you if you ask.

Of course, you also need to be someone they feel safe to tell the truth to, and want to.