I thought I was a leader earlier in my career. But it wasn’t until I realized I was failing by trying to do everything myself that I actually started to become one.

I realized I was being the opposite of a leader.

Later, by necessity, I had to learn to let others lead. Whether it be a project, a client relationship, or various operations / initiatives within the company.

This isn’t easy, but it’s a winning move. Here’s why...

Other people’s ideas are often better than yours. And even if they are not better than yours, the execution when they come from someone else can often be better than when others try and execute your idea.

We can’t complain about others not taking accountability. We need to let them lead. Put them in a position to succeed, or fail well, and there will always be success.

A parting thought that resonated with me as I was thinking through this one, is from Ray Dalio's book Principles.

To paraphrase: Struggle + Reflection = Progress.

During the period of trying to do everything myself while I was leading a team (roughly 2011-2014), I thought I was winning but I wasn't. 2015 and 2016 was spent rebuilding myself and reflecting.

Then came progress.

Hit me up with any questions anytime at paul@datadriven.design.

Thanks for reading, watching and listening, and have a great day!

KEEP MARKETING!

Paul Hickey, Founder / CEO / Lead Strategist at Data Driven Design, LLC has created and grown businesses via digital strategy and internet marketing for more than 10 years. His sweet spot is using analytics to design and build websites and grow the audience and revenue of businesses via SEO/Blogging, Google Adwords, Bing Ads, Facebook and Instagram Ads, Social Media Content Marketing and Email Marketing. The part that he’s most passionate about is quantifying next marketing actions based on real data.