Build a Team That Doesn’t Need Me

One of my long-standing goals for Smart Dolphins has been to build a business that can stand without me. I sometimes joke that it’s because I’m lazy… and maybe there’s some truth to that. But really, it’s about independence and sustainability. I’ve seen too many leaders trap themselves in businesses that revolve entirely around them. That’s fragile and doesn’t sound fun. I’ve always wanted to build something that endures, without depending any one person, especially me.

One of the biggest challenges for leaders is our early success is often driven by ego strength. And I get it – ego gets us moving: it drives us to “start”, to take ownership and believe in ourselves. But it can become an insidious trap. We think we’re supposed to have the answers and too often we think we have all the best ideas. We can get very particular about how we want something to be done. And we want our fingerprints on everything, especially if we feel personally accountable for the results. But that mindset is misleading.

The real leverage in leadership isn’t above your team, it’s THROUGH the team.

A strong team will almost always outperform a genius with a bunch of helpers, especially over the long run. Teams iterate. They specialize. They bring diverse ideas together in ways no single person could. And perhaps most importantly, strong teams make each other stronger. That’s why “Elevate the Team” is one of our core values at Smart Dolphins. The momentum that builds when this is done right is magical.

As magical and simple as it might seem, building a strong team is very difficult. People are messy, imperfect and as leaders we can get stuck seeing them for who they are today, opposed to who they can become. This can lead us to focusing on building and controlling process and structure that we can plug people in to like robots. This is an illusion around scaling – you can seem to be “building” the business.

A business will always top out at the level of their people. No system can overcome a weak team In contrast, a team-first leader builds the business with their people and see their potential and help them grow into it. It can be more difficult, but this “People First” approach is the work that matters most.
So the question is: do you want an awesome team that thinks, leads and grows or would you rather spend your career telling everyone what to do and how to do it?

I know my answer to this important question.

What’s this 25/25 stuff about?: 25 YEARS, 25 INSIGHTS – Reflections on Growth, Leadership and Resilience | Smart Dolphins IT Solutions Inc.