Where Is the Line
Where Is the Line is a decision framework for the oldest leadership tension: when to press and when to wait. Effort and patience are both virtues, both fail at the extremes, and almost nobody is taught to find the line between them. The framework treats it as a learnable skill.
Origin
From Spiritcode, by Yemi Mateola. It draws on a signature theme of his work: people and organizations are almost always tilted toward one extreme, and the skill is finding the line, not picking a side.
When to use it
Live tension between pushing and waiting: a deal that will not close, a hire who is almost working out, a market that is almost ready, opposition that may deserve a response or may deserve silence.
A worked example
A leader has pressed a stalled partnership for six months. The framework asks the diagnostic questions: is anything still moving when you stop pushing, what has the pressing cost the rest of the portfolio, and what would waiting actually look like with a date on it? The answer in this case was a ninety-day deliberate hold, which the counterparty broke first.
Related writing
Part of Spiritcode, delivered through my coaching practice.
By Yemi Mateola. Last updated: June 2026.