I once worked with a store where the owner had to be out for surgery.
Then the store manager quit.
That left one full-time employee who suddenly had to take over the store.
She didn't have six months to prepare. She didn't have a year-long development plan.
She had a day.
And she did it.
She didn't become an experienced store manager overnight. But almost immediately, she began making decisions, solving problems, and taking responsibility at a much higher level.
Circumstances had compressed her growth.
That's what I call The Jump.
The Jump is shortening the distance between who someone is today and who they're capable of becoming.
We often assume growth needs more time, more training, and more gradual progress.
Sometimes it does.
But sometimes the better answer is to compress it.
1. Define it.
Identify one noticeable difference that is holding the person back or affecting the business. Maybe it's a manager who avoids setting clear expectations or lets missed commitments slide. Instead of making that a six-month development goal, compress the timeline. The sooner the behavior changes, the sooner accountability, execution, trust, and results can improve.
2. Expect it.
Move the standard forward now. Don’t treat the change as something they’ll work toward over the next six months. Make it the expectation today, and be clear about what better looks like.
3. Coach it.
Stay close to that one difference. Coach it frequently. What worked yesterday? What didn't? What will they do differently today?
That is also why I changed how I coach people. I have become less focus on broad development plans and more interested in one noticeable difference, then compressing the coaching around it.
Because the right difference rarely changes just one thing. One change starts creating other changes.
The Jump isn't throwing someone into the deep end.
It's moving the expectation forward and bringing the support with it.
Sometimes faster growth doesn't require more time. It requires more compression.
So let me ask: Who on your team could make The Jump? Or maybe your own Jump?
