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In the early days of starting a business, the “self” mentality is a survival skill. You write the code, pitch the client, manage the books and clean the office. Proud to wear every hat, and sometimes, no other option.
But in the end, if you are still doing everything yourself, you are an obstacle, not a solution.
A founder has to make the most difficult transition to become a hero. I am there. I bootstrapid 46 labs From the first day, there was no investor, no parachute, backup plan. For the first few years, I didn’t get a salary. I, working with a handful of teammates, handled technical architecture and business strategy, which was also in the game.
But what I learned is: When a company does not happen when the founder works hard – it happens when the founder learns to trust and build others. The Hero-CEO model does not measure. It burns. And often, it takes the company with it.
Related: 7 steps to create a smart, high -performing team
Why the hero’s mentality fails
Being a hero can feel especially good initially. You close the deal, solve the client’s problem, squash the bug and feel indispensable. But this “inevitable” feeling is dangerous. Because if you can solve the only problem, you have just created a delicate system.
I have seen that the fantastic founders developed businesses that are fully revolving around their abilities. They made every decision. They approved every fare. They were on every cell call. Finally, the business enhances the ability to control it. And instead of assigning, they worked for more hours. They kept tough.
It works – unless it happens. When something is broken, the team does not know how to respond. When you leave, development stalls. This is not leadership. This depends.
In aviation (which I have done for years), no pilot flies alone. You rely on checklists, equipment, co -plates and systems. Not because you can’t blow the aircraft to solo, but because safely, there is a need for sponsorship, cooperation and awareness of your own limits.
The business is the same. You do not scale by controlling everything – you scales through the construction of working systems without you.
Related: 5 long -term strategies to build and maintain high performing teams
Hiring the services of those on whom you will really trust
As a founder, I threw out a traditional services playbook, one of the best things ever. I do not see those who resume. I don’t care where you went to school. I want to know how you think, how you solve the problems and how you talk under pressure.
We have hired people outside the telecom industry, from outside the United States, from industries like fashion or finance. He has become some of the best members of the team with whom I have worked. Not because they knew telecom, but because they know how to think, challenge assumptions and own their consequences.
If you want to stop becoming a hero, you have to hire the services of people on which you will trust the keys. This means focusing on mentality and fit, not just experience. It also means to give people the freedom to run. A strong team is not made of smart people – it is made of empowered people.
Change yourself (repeatedly)
Many founders “talk about working in business, not in business.” But followed by something. Why? Because getting out of a function that you once owned by it feels like abandoning control. But in fact, this is the most strategic move you can do.
I have made a habit of asking myself regularly: “What am I doing today that someone else should own someone else in the next six months?” If I can’t find anything, I have either not made the right team – or I have not learned to let go.
Changing yourself is not about disappearing. This is about creating explanation. When everyone knows who they are responsible for, decisions are faster. Mistakes become moments of learning rather than obstacles. And with or without your direct involvement, development scales.
When I handed over the key engineering decisions for the people I trusted, our products have improved. When I withdrew from the daily project management, the execution improved. When I stopped becoming one of the reviewers of each agreement, we closed more of them.
Your job is not to keep everything together. This is to prepare something that puts it together without you.
Related: 7 ways to create a high -performing team
Focus on systems, not of bravery
One of the best lessons from flight is to improve systems. In a crisis, you don’t trust your intestines – you follow the checklist. You systematically resolve the problem. You talk to the team. You perform the procedure that you practiced 100 times before.
The business should work similarly. If a contract goes to the south, a product fails or the system breaks down, your company should not rely on you to dive and save it every time. It’s not durable – and it is not expanded.
Instead, create a system that soon gives rise to problems. Make dashboards that show you where things are headed. Blood process your team can run without holding a hand.
The less your company depends on the brave, the more dependent on the consistency.
Not from the center, lead from the front
There is a difference between guidance and guidance. I still jump when needed. But I don’t try to be the center of everything. It’s not leadership – it connects.
Moving forward from the front means setting the direction, making a tough call and cleaning the barriers so that your team can come into action. This means that every project should be shown with explanation, not with its own hands.
When your business is small, you have to do everything. But as it is growing, your job is to make sure that everyone else can do their jobs better.
It begins with the need to become a hero.
Certain thinking
If you take a week’s leave, your company is separated, it’s not a business – this is a solo act with auxiliary staff.
The founders who measure well are the ones who take their place repeatedly, who make teams who make good decisions without them and those who see their job as a system, do not become a system.
You don’t have to be the most smart person in the room. You need to build a room full of smart people – and trust them to blow up the plane.
In the early days of starting a business, the “self” mentality is a survival skill. You write the code, pitch the client, manage the books and clean the office. Proud to wear every hat, and sometimes, no other option.
But in the end, if you are still doing everything yourself, you are an obstacle, not a solution.
A founder has to make the most difficult transition to become a hero. I am there. I bootstrapid 46 labs From the first day, there was no investor, no parachute, backup plan. For the first few years, I didn’t get a salary. I, working with a handful of teammates, handled technical architecture and business strategy, which was also in the game.
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