Caught in Doer/Manager Limbo? 5 Quotes to Unleash Your Inner Leader

There is a crucial time at any startup when the best leaders learn how to step back from the day-to-day operations and become better team builders and managers, instead. Here are five inspiring quotes to help you navigate the difficult worker to manager transition — and help your company scale in the process.

There comes a point in every founder’s career when she needs to step up to the plate, stop being a worker bee, and start managing her team. It might be difficult at first, but don’t go running back to your comfort zone. After all, a scalable company requires confident and committed leaders (across all levels) who can focus their time on high-level issues and trust others to handle the execution.

Below, we’ve compiled quotes from some of the brightest tech leaders and management experts to help you unleash your inner leader. So, stop hanging out in doer/manager limbo, and start growing along with your company. Learning how to refocus on new responsibilities while letting go of the old.

“Build a strong team to take yourself out of the critical path. If you are still spending most of your time working “in” your business, rather than “on” your business, then you are not yet ready to scale. Show that you have and can continue to hire the right people to run the scaled business without you being everywhere and making every decision.” — Martin Zwilling, @StartupPro Read more at Forbes

“A scalable business starts with you deciding to step away from a production role and into a management role. You take off your worker cap and put on your leader cap.” — Neil Patel, Quick Sprout @neilpatel Read more at Quick Sprout

I believe that most engineering leaders should not be writing code. There are some exceptions — you have a small team, or a product that isn’t launched, for example — but if you are writing code at work with a title like CTO or VP Engineering then you likely have the wrong priorities, or the wrong title. — Kate Matsudaira, popforms @katemats Read more at kate{mats}

As a startup founder, you’ve likely got some impressive talents. You might be a remarkable blogger, a great speaker, a well-connected deal maker or a phenomenal engineer. But, no matter what, you’ll reach a time in your business where you can’t be “that guy” for the company. If you continue to be a load-bearing beam in your startup’s tower, you’ll never be able to scale, grow and join the top of the skyline. — Rand Fishkin, Moz @randfish Read more at Moz

The best organizations drive the most complex decisions down to the lowest possible levels within the company. If all big decisions are made by an individual, or a small group of individuals, your organization won’t scale. Teach the organization and its employees how to make great decisions and then provide them with the authority to do so. — Mike Myatt, N2growth @mikemyatt Read more at Forbes

What’s your best piece of advice for founders (and other startup employees) transitioning into larger management roles?

 

Photo by: Joel Olives