What's obvious about being a leader: Setting a goal and enforcing it.

What's not so obvious: Engineering the machine that hits the goal.

Leaders who build teams that deliver elite performance:

• Sit with the team, understand the workflow, finds out where momentum drops.

• Understand the power of having a fresh set of eyes on a worn out process. It’s massively underrated.

• Never delegate the accountability of building the process to your team.

While you 100% need to demand explanations, also:

• Walk the floor

• Watch the process

• Find what isn't working.

How did James Dyson build a $7B empire selling vacuums?

He tore down a 100 year old vacuum design process and mapped airflow like a physicist. He used dust from every country he wanted Dyson to sell in, and obsessed over noise, motor heat and turbulence, nothing that a typical leader could catch on a dashboard.

Why does Jiro Ono charge $300 for sushi in a subway station?

Because he built a system where apprentices spend 10 years perfecting one dish — and every grain of rice is cooked to a ritualized standard.

Why did Navy SEALs succeed in the Bin Laden raid?

Because Admiral McRaven made them rehearse every step — in a full-scale replica of the compound — until failure was engineered out of the system.

Why is Toyota on top of this list?

Because, Taiichi Ohno father of the Toyota Production System gave every factory worker — from line worker to plant head — the power to stop the line.

What this means for you as a leader:

• Stop setting performance goals your system can’t deliver.

• If results are inconsistent, most likely the process is broken, not the people.

• If your team is firefighting every week, they don’t need motivation, they need your help to design a system.

• Help them. Get in the engine room. Map it. Stress test it. Improve it.