It was a chilly Sunday morning in Chicago.

We were standing near Millennium Park, taking pictures in front of Cloud Gate—“the Bean.” You could feel that quiet excitement in the air. Tourists moving, cameras clicking, people trying to capture something memorable before the day fully started.

We were in a rush. Breakfast was next, then another appointment. I had already called an Uber, so I stepped aside to wait by the road.

That’s when I noticed it.

A car parked in a no-parking zone, hazards on, nobody inside.

A few seconds later, a parking officer on a bicycle rolled up. Slow. Intentional. He circled the car once. Then twice. By the third time, he had made his decision.

He looked at me—just briefly—then reached for his ticket book.

He started writing.

Placed the ticket on the windshield.

And then, almost casually, he said: “I always give people a few minutes before I write a ticket.”

That line stayed with me.

Because in that moment, two things were true at the same time:

• The driver made a mistake.
• The officer gave grace.

But the grace had a limit.

Standing there, waiting for my Uber, I started thinking about leadership.

Because this is the same tension we deal with every day:

• An employee shows up late… again.
• Documentation isn’t done within 24 hours… again.
• A responsibility is missed… again.

And when you address it, the expectation is: “Give me grace.”

Now here’s the question I had to ask myself—right there on that cold Chicago morning:

How much grace is right?

Because grace without structure becomes permission.

And permission becomes culture.

And culture becomes your outcome.

That officer didn’t rush to punish.

He circled.

He gave time.

He observed.

But eventually, he acted.

That’s the balance.

As a leader, your job is not to remove grace—but to define it.

Grace should look like:

• Giving someone the benefit of the doubt the first time
• Coaching instead of reacting
• Creating clarity so they know what “right” looks like

But grace should not look like:

• Repeating the same conversation with no consequence
• Lowering the standard to match behavior
• Allowing one person’s inconsistency to affect the entire team

Because now it’s no longer grace—it’s drift.

Here’s the reaction point I want you to sit with:

If one of your best team members stood next to you in that moment…
watching that same employee come in late, miss documentation, or skip responsibility—

Would they feel like you’re being fair… or being soft?

That answer will tell you everything.

Leadership is not about choosing between grace and accountability.

It’s about sequencing them correctly.

Grace first.
Clarity second.
Accountability always.

That officer didn’t hate the driver.

But he still wrote the ticket.

And that’s the standard.

Anthony Ndungu, PhD. MBA, RN
Entrepreneur | Leader | Growth Advocate
CEO, http://www.kansashomehealth.com|www.medicashift.com|www.meadowlarkcarehomes.com
“We make lives better.”