From Me to We

Early on, I had a choice to make: was I building “self-employment” for myself, or was I building a “real company”? That fork in the road comes for many founders. And the answer determines whether the business grows beyond you, or stays defined by you.

I chose to go from “Me to We”, but it was a huge moment. The first couple hires were giant leaps: Dolphin #2 was doubling my payroll overnight. Handing off client work that had been my whole world was a huge stretch of my comfort zone. It was difficult, but it also gave me early glimpses of freedom and the opportunity for me to grow and focus. The E-Myth was an early influence for me: the vision of working on the business, not just in it.

I joke about it sometimes, but delegating wasn’t about being lazy. It was actually often more difficult than just doing the work myself. Luckily, I wasn’t a super geek – I love tech, but not necessarily in love with the nitty gritty of the bits and bytes. I definitely didn’t want to be the smartest engineer in the room. It was clear I needed people better than me in those seats… in MOST seats.

But “me to we” doesn’t stop at handing off tasks. The harder leap (at least in my experience) is moving from leading “individual contributors” to leading other leaders. That shift can be very humbling. It’s especially difficult leading other leaders who can only wear leadership as one of many hats. I try to coach our other leaders around the leverage available as a leader. It can feel much more productive to just plow through “the work”, however, as a leader, you can multiply your efforts through others… IF and only if you step back.

Of course, leadership is messy and that can make it feel less productive then checking concrete tasks off your “to do” list. The mess is also why humility matters so much: Without humility, me-to-we never sticks.

What helps with leading leaders? Systems and rituals that make leadership a collective act. Our “People First” reviews, where we step back each quarter to talk about the whole team create that group cohesion. Our planning cycles, where strategy becomes a shared responsibility and we develop our ways of thinking about where we’re going together. Even with gaps in consistency, these types of practices shift us toward “we.”

And the payoff is real. People grow and everyone can focus and flourish. Nearly everyone at Smart Dolphins is better at their craft than I could ever be. THAT is the vision for “me to we”: get to a place where the fingerprints on success aren’t the leaders’ anymore.

Of course, 25 years of this clearly suggests “me to we” isn’t a one-time shift. Every stage of growth brings a new version of the challenge. Where am I still central? Where do I need to let go again? How do I now best elevate our leadership? Even now, we’re wrestling with leadership capacity, and I know another turn in this journey is here.

Me to we is never really finished. It’s the ongoing work of leadership and arguably its greatest reward!

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