The Employee Who Taught Her Something About Leadership

One of the greatest leadership lessons I've learned came from my COO, Sher McGuffey. As an entrepreneur, I've spent years building a business, solving problems, making decisions, and figuring things out along the way. When you've built something from the ground up, it's easy to think you need to be in everything. Working alongside Sher has reinforced something incredibly important: Just because I can do something doesn't mean I should be the one doing it. I've learned that surrounding yourself with smart, capable people isn't enough. You have to trust them, give them the authority to make decisions, and allow them to approach things differently than you would. Sometimes the greatest thing we can do as leaders is get out of the way. I'm still learning this lesson! But I've come to understand that my success as a leader isn't measured by how much I can accomplish personally. It's measured by what the people around me are empowered to accomplish. Great leadership isn't about being needed for everything. It's about building something that can thrive without you being involved in everything.