# Be a door, not a wall

Walls are immovable. Doors can be opened.

Unfortunately, many experts and leaders feel like walls. Unapproachable, frustrating, and best avoided if you want to get anywhere.

If people see you as a wall, they will look for ways to go around you. They will avoid asking you questions, delay sharing decisions until it’s too late for you to change them, or look for someone else to say yes.

You may not even realize it, but if you're bringing up lots of problems with someone's proposal and not telling them exactly what would get you to say yes, you're leaving them guessing and blocked.

The solution? Be a door.

Doors are designed to be opened and closed. They can keep the bad stuff out and let the good stuff in.

As a door, you can hold a high bar and say no when something won’t work. What matters is whether you help people understand what would work. Highlight the risks and suggest alternatives. Work through what it would take to make the idea possible.

And still, there are some bad doors. Doors that look like they should be pulled but need to be pushed. Doors that are way too heavy or slam in your face. If you say your door is open but make people regret bringing things to you, they will stop trying.

The next time you find yourself gatekeeping, ask yourself what it’d take for you to say yes. Make that very clear to whoever’s bringing an idea to you.

Try to be a good door.