A few weeks ago, I was under a car in my driveway, tightening a loose splash guard. The jack shifted, and the car came down on me before I could move out of the way.
I ended up in the hospital with a few broken bones and a lot of quiet time to think about how easily things can change. While the doctors were studying my X-rays, I started thinking about another kind of break, the kind that happens when leaders try to do everything themselves.
Sarah and I had already planned to record an episode of Revenue Rewired about owners becoming bottlenecks in their own businesses. After the accident, the topic hit home in a very real way.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
“It’s the bottleneck no one wants to talk about. The owner.”
Sarah said that during our conversation, and it stopped me for a second.
I’ve always been someone who takes pride in figuring things out. If something needed to be done, I’d find a way. That mindset helped me grow StringCan, but it also made me part of the problem. I convinced myself that being involved in every detail showed commitment. What it really showed was a lack of trust.
When you build a business, it’s easy to tell yourself that your way is the only way. I did that for years without realizing how much it slowed our growth.
While I was recovering, I started paying attention to how the team was running things. Meetings were happening. Clients were supported. Projects were moving forward.
Everything kept going without me. That was the moment I realized how far we’ve come as a team, and how much better things run when I stop trying to control every piece of the process.
“If you look hard in the mirror, you might realize you’re the reason your business isn’t already 10x bigger.”
That quote from our episode stuck with me. For me, it wasn’t about scaling faster. It was about leading better.
You don’t need a hospital stay to figure out where you might be holding your company back. You just need to pause and be honest about how you work. Here are a few things that helped me:
If you stepped away from your business for a month, what would happen?
Would things keep moving, or would they slow down?
That question can be uncomfortable, but it’s one every leader needs to face. True leadership isn’t about being needed in every decision. It’s about creating the kind of team and systems that make you confident stepping away.
That accident slowed me down, but it also gave me perspective. It showed me that the business doesn’t rely on me the way it once did, and that’s a good thing.
Watching the team step up reminded me why I started StringCan in the first place to build something bigger than myself.
If you’re leading a company, take your own X-ray before life forces one on you.
At StringCan, we help leaders identify what’s slowing their growth and build strategies that make teams stronger and more aligned. If you’re ready to see what your own X-ray might reveal, we’d love to talk.