The key and the key hole

“Who turns who?”

Someone recently used the phrase “who turns who?” in a conversation and I thought it was the most interesting analogy I have ever heard. It really jived with me and I thought it was the best analogy ever.

I’ve written about intentions and motivations many times before, but nothing is more true than the phrase “who turns who?”.

In business, we learn about leadership, and in practice, many strive to be the manager, the so-called “leader” of the team. But this is not always the case in life. We don’t designate “managers” at home or any other scenarios that is outside of work.

No matter how big or small you might be, you can be the “key”. You can “turn” someone else. In fact, there can be more than one lock that the key turns (the master key), or you can even have locks that requires a series of keys, like your safety deposit box:

• A child can likely persuade their parent(s)
• A trusted colleague can likely get their friends at work to become allies
• HR is likely to react if everyone raises the same issue

Understanding the mechanism and relationships of your keyhole is not only beneficial to you, but also to your own security, whatever it may be that you’re trying to hone down/secure/promise.