if anyone has read or follows new york times bestselling author malcolm gladwell, you’ve probably heard about the 10,000 hour rule. it’s a rule based off of work from neurologist daniel levitin who said it requires 10,000 hours—or roughly 10 years—of practice in a certain subject in order to become a world-class expert.

it’s no wonder that after decades of living life taking orders from parents, teachers, administrators, and bosses into our first years of life as adults we’ve become world-class experts at doing what others tell us to do. perhaps that’s why so many new leaders find it difficult to let go of the day-to-day tasking and become a manager of people instead. to stop doing and start directing.

it can be done. it just takes a little practice.