When you’re in the thick of day-to-day operations, it can be hard to see the moment you become your own bottleneck. And when you do recognize it, it can be even harder to implement meaningful changes that get you out of the way and empower your people to do their best work. No one likes to build a plane while flying it. But if you are your organization’s biggest obstacle, how do you figure out who and what you need to get the plane off the ground before flying high again?
Tyler Robertson, CEO of Diesel Laptops, asked himself this question when he realized his company’s profits had plateaued. I spoke with Tyler on a recent episode of Best Places to Lead about how he got out of his own way, and he had many insightful and humble thoughts to share. Here are the top 3 lessons from our conversation:
- Your people are your organization’s most important asset.
- Seek an outside perspective.
- Recruit your leaders to transform themselves.
Lesson #1: Your people are an asset, not a liability.
You might be the founder or CEO of your company, but you would not be able to support current customers, reach new ones, roll out product improvements, or carry out daily operations without the people who work there. You cannot accomplish your mission alone. Tyler knows this and, over the years, has seen how high-functioning organizations are made up not only of talented individuals but of people who also have been there for longer than a year. Stability requires more than good systems and processes; it also requires institutional knowledge, camaraderie, and psychological safety.
As a retention strategy for organizational stability, Tyler sits down with every new hire. He wants to get to know them so that when he walks by them in the hallway, he knows definitively they’re part of the organization. Whether you’re scheduling introductory 1:1s or holding a once monthly gathering with new hires, getting to know them as individuals will jumpstart the belonging process.
Lesson #2: Seek an outside perspective.
There is a concept called “the action imperative” which names the energy and desire to prove yourself by asserting you know the answer and will immediately implement the solution. Typically, folks who are newer to organizations fall victim to the action imperative. Leaders, however, tend to swing in the opposite direction; they fall victim to the inaction imperative. The reasons are varied, and we’ve explored many over the course of Best Places to Lead. The number one thing you can do to overcome the inaction imperative? Seek outside help from a consultant who works on the thing you aren’t able to move on.
Tyler hired a consultant when he realized that the rapid growth Diesel Computers had undergone left his organizational systems in chaos. And when the results of his 360 feedback came in showing he wasn’t excelling in the areas he needed to for his employees, he was sure this was the right move. As a leader, you’ll never be good at everything. The one thing you should be a champion at, however, is asking for help when you need it.
Lesson #3: Recruit your leaders to work themselves out of a job.
As Diesel Computers grew, so too did Tyler’s need to have people in leadership positions who could carry out the strategic plan across the organization. In Tyler’s phrasing, he had to ask his people to work themselves out of a job. He told them outright: “If you’re working on products, if you’re working on market, you’re working on the wrong things and spending time in the wrong areas. We need you to worry about operational systems, resource management, management systems, and culture.”
When your managers step into the Senior Manager or Director level role, they may not realize that it’s not because they’re exceptionally good at carrying out the tasks done by Coordinators or Specialists. It’s because they showed competency in skills necessary for maintaining the functionality of core systems and could be thoughtful in how their business unit uses key resources. The CEO cannot be the sole person responsible for carrying out the strategic plan. Your lower level leaders also need to keep their departments steady toward the priorities in the plan as well.
To learn more from Tyler about how to remove the biggest obstacle–you!– to your company’s success, tune in to the full episode!
About Best Places to Lead
Your company has the potential to be great. The leader’s responsibility is to unlock that potential – or doom it to mediocrity.
On the LIVE Best Places to Lead show, you’ll learn the hard-fought lessons from the front lines earned by business leaders who have already had their teeth bashed in and lived to tell about it. We’ll share the tips, tricks, mindsets, and frameworks that allow great leaders to lead differently.
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