What's your secret sauce for building a great team?
Promoting a positive atmosphere / workplace environment that incentivizes team members to speak up. By creating a space where team members are not afraid to share their ideas, and/or mistakes, the team feels empowered because their voice matters. The reason it is so important to me to create a respectable workspace is because I want everyone on the team to know they are extremely valuable to the growth of Bottleneck.
As long as I listen to my team, and have them support me in my decision making process, the organization will continue to scale while every single human being within the organization feels like they have an important role that directly contributes to the success of Bottleneck.
What should leaders understand about their own role and responsibility?
In order to be a great leader, you first need to understand the power of listening. L.I.S.T.E.N. - Listen Intently and Soulfully To Engage Notable. By choosing to listen, you will have a better understanding of what challenges are presented and how to best navigate these areas. In addition, you will learn new ideas that could directly impact your bottom line. By listening to your team, they will feel like they have a voice within the organization.
What quote or saying has stuck with you?
The quote that has stuck with me the most is from an old friend of mine, Scott Beebe. He said, "Do something as if it's the last time you are going to do it." It took me a while to understand what he meant by that, but when I figured it out, it completely changed my life. Basically, what it means is in order to leverage your time so you can focus on doing your best work, you first need to document everything you do in a given day. Literally, write down every single step or record a video screen capture of what you do in order to complete a task that you would like to one day delegate, so that you can do something as if it was the last time you were ever going to do it. Pretty soon and before you know it, you've built a library of tutorials for the many tasks you do at any given time so that you can share this library with your new hire. You won't have to spend an incredible amount of time figuring out what tasks you can delegate to them. This process does wonders for your confidence because whomever you have identified to perform these tasks will be doing exactly what you are doing because you documented everything in step by step workflows.
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Here’s More, From Other Founders Around the World
What should leaders understand about their own role and responsibility?
Your own time and energy is the most precious resource you have. Use it wisely, and learn what gives you energy, and what saps you. In the early years of building something, you need to throw a huge amount of time at it - and do many things you perhaps don’t like doing. But as you scale, it’s vital to take a step back and build a business that can grow rapidly beyond the time you put into it.
What shift in perspective has allowed you to see things differently?
It may sound simple, but realizing and truly understanding that we are all different and driven by different things has made a significant impact on me. This insight has changed the way I approach relationships and leadership.
What’s a guiding principle that informs the way you build and run your business?
One of our core values at Cozero is radical candor. It is the idea that the willingness to repeatedly enter uncomfortable situations to speak the truth benefits everyone in the long run. We believe that in order to grow and improve as an organization, we need to create an environment where our team is not afraid to challenge processes and decisions. Making this a core value guides us in difficult situations when it’s not clear which road to take.
What's a mistake that you're happy you've made?
I'm happy I chose a highly regulated market, even though it was tough. It taught me a lot about patience, attention to detail, and the importance of doing things right. These lessons have made me better at what I do.