There’s a thick line across a curling sheet that immediately commands attention, and has a major impact on the game. (Usually it’s black, but in Cortina it is green.)
As a curler, you’re not allowed to slide all the way down the ice and place your stone exactly where you want it.
Instead, you must release the stone before it crosses the hog line* and watch it continue on its own.
Once it’s released, your role changes. You can influence the outcome through communication and sweeping, but you can’t put your hand on it again.
That moment of release is deliberate. And it matters.
Why the hog line exists
The hog line forces curlers to do three things well:
- Prepare thoroughly before delivery
- Trust the technique they’ve practiced
- Accept that not every variable is in their control
Trying to hold on longer doesn’t improve the shot, it disqualifies it.**
The skill isn’t in carrying the stone farther. It’s in knowing when and how to let go.
The leadership version of the same moment
In work and leadership, there’s often no visible hog line, but the dynamic is similar.
You might notice it when:
- You keep refining a deliverable that’s already ready
- You stay deeply involved in work you’ve already delegated
- You rework others’ contributions to match your exact preferences
- You hesitate to step back because the outcome still reflects on you
This isn’t about being distracted or undisciplined. It’s usually the opposite.
The desire to control comes from responsibility, pride, or fear of things going wrong.
What holding on too long actually costs
Micromanaging doesn’t just negatively impact the work, it changes how people show up.
When leaders don’t let go:
- Others hesitate to take ownership
- Creativity narrows to “what will be approved”
- Capacity stays artificially limited
- Trust erodes quietly
Just like in curling, too much control doesn’t improve results, but instead makes them more challenging to attain.
Releasing earlier builds stronger teams
Letting go earlier doesn’t mean disengaging. It means shifting roles.
After release, curlers:
- Communicate clearly
- Support the shot in progress
- Adjust as conditions change
- Accept outcomes and learn quickly from them
Leaders can do the same:
- Set clear expectations up front
- Delegate outcomes, not just tasks
- Stay available, but hands off
- Allow others to own their portion of the work
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s momentum, growth, and shared responsibility.
As the Games continue…
This is the third in a 20-day Olympic curling series exploring career and leadership lessons inspired by small details of the sport.
Tomorrow’s lesson looks at why a game isn’t won or lost in the first 10 minutes.
Until then, notice where you might be holding on past your own hog line… and experiment with letting go earlier. 🥌
* Why the line is called the “hog line” has long been debated. What makes sense to me, is that hog used to refer to a weak lamb with the likely fate of being culled from the flock. So a stone that didn’t make it past the farther hog line, would have a similar fate and be removed from play. I can share that on page 100 in the “History of Curling” printed in 1890, there is a copy of James Graeme’s 1771 “Curling: A Poem” with the lines “And stops midway? His opponent is glad, Yet fears a similar fate, while ev’ry mouth cries off the hog“.
** Deeper in the weeds. Releasing the rock wasn’t an issue until the 1950s when improvements in footwear and the sliding technique made getting close to the house actually possible. The current rule dates from 1974, making use of the centuries-old hog line in the opposite direction. Rule 5(e) is: “A stone must be clearly released from the hand before it reaches the hog line at the delivery end. If the player fails to do so, the stone is immediately removed from play by the delivering team.” Enforcement of this rule has its own history. Umpires used to watch every hog line all game – which I can attest, was a very cold and boring job. Then umpires were at the line only when requested by a team that felt an opponent needed watching. A technology debuted in 2003 that linked sensors in the ice with sensors in the stone handles that would detect if a hand was on at the line or not and blink red or green lights accordingly. It meant though that curlers could no longer wear a glove when holding the stone at the rare big events that could afford to implement the system. Even with on-going improvements in technology, diligent battery checks, and equipment maintenance, these handles can still malfunction and cause some consternation. So the perfect enforcement solution remains elusive.
