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's the biggest insight you learned in recent years?
It’s always a good idea to be connected to your product – even if you have to deal with high-level topics, always remember the things you offer.
What personal habit helped you accelerate your personal growth?
In one of the hardest times of my life so far, I started journaling for 1-2h on Sundays. Not digital, but with paper and pen. Always answering the same questions related to self, social life and work. This brutally honest and regular reflection once a week helped me identify problems early and iterate fast.
When times are tough, who or what is an anchor for you?
My co-founders are my anchor in work-related topics. Having an environment where failure is welcomed with a helping hand and where weakness is valued as openness, once you are down those people will drag you up.
What's a mistake that you're happy you've made?
When I was 16 (way before the internet) I founded a travel-partner agency to connect people from different backgrounds seeking travel companions. After a year, I had to close the agency due to a lack of customers and the confusion some callers had regarding the nature of the “service.” Despite this setback, I gained invaluable insights into sales, communication and people’s needs, solidifying my desire to run a business that helps people.