Welcome to the 47th edition of Candor from Kaitlin. I’m grateful you’re here. Each week we explore topics that can be hard to talk about (personally and professionally) with the goal of bringing honesty and open communication to the things we all experience but often try to get through alone.
Early on in my start-up career, I was introduced to the concept of build or buy when it came to software solutions. We had a mission and vision at the company to build better healthcare, but with it being an industry that was by no means new, we were faced with the decision in many cases to build our own way of doing things that had been done for eons, or buy licenses to existing software that would do a lot of our tasks for us out of the gate.
The conundrum: Building it takes time, human resources, and money but in the end, we’d own it and be able to make the most return on it, if it went well. Buying was going to be faster though, we’d be able to start delivering sooner, but at a steeper cost. That cost usually meant a hefty up front cost but after doing the maths, would likely equal out after a period of time to what it would cost us to build it ourselves. The key for us was to determine what we could “afford” to build vs buy given the timeline we were up against. For us, the right solution ended up doing a blend of both. We picked off items we could build within our timeline but needed to buy some out-of-the-box software that was going to take too long to build and deliver on our own.
I’ve recently been thinking of leadership the same way. As much as we would love to believe many of us are “natural born leaders” I simply don’t think that’s the case. Human nature tends to take over, our emotions at times get the best of us, and when faced with a new issue for the first time, we don’t always say or do things the right way. I recently shared my first leadership failure, if you haven't read that yet, check it out and you’ll see what I mean.
Leadership isn’t born, it’s taught, learned, and developed. It’s bred out of existing leaders having an impact on the people they are responsible for, and let’s be honest, some great leaders have been created because of experiences with terrible leadership. I still remember the punch to the gut I had when a superior of mine passed my work off as their own to our senior leadership team. I never wanted to make someone feel the way I felt that day, and always make a point to give credit to the folks who make the real work happen when it’s due. Conversely, I learned the power of an empathetic leader when my department Director leader showed up at my cubicle on my first day back to work after we buried my grandma. She found me crying at my desk, head in my hands, wondering how I was ever going to feel like I could focus and get back to work. She invited me to come to her office and chat, and allowed me to hide for a little bit while I went through that emotional first morning back. She taught me it’s possible to lead with empathy, grace, and understanding.
The great leaders we need aren’t born overnight. So often I see the high performers get promoted into leadership roles and are just expected to figure it out, to learn how to lead as they go. It can work, but at what cost? What mistakes is your untrained leader going to make in either the decisions about your business or in how they handle direct reports. In the lean companies that I work with, losing a single employee can have a significant impact, especially when they are the only person doing the function. Putting staff under a brand new leader without any support can have disastrous results in small business.
And don’t get me started on the role of a team lead and how often companies get that wrong. Believe me, as a manager, I love a team lead but so often we set the wrong expectations for the people in this role. We expect them to maintain the level of performance from their individual contributor role while taking on leadership responsibilities. It’s an impossible feat that jeopardizes not only the success of the individual but also risks the cohesion and productivity of the team as a whole. However, when structured correctly and given the time to focus on leading while transitioning out of an individual contributor role, the team lead can be an immense benefit to both the company and the employee. A few keys to making it work is giving them the correct expectations and the right person to help guide them through the unknown waters.
In the services I offer to organizations, I serve as that seasoned leader to mentor and coach up-and-coming leaders. I fill that role either from an embedded, fractional, role within their operations team or as a retained advisor/mentor. The gap between learning how to lead and being a good leader can be overwhelming. My goal is to be the leader that you don’t have to build, but that you can buy (or rent, in my case) to knock down the barriers to your teams achieving their full potential.
Reflecting on my own journey on becoming a good leader, I've come to recognize that some of the most profound lessons in leadership stem from both the positive and negative experiences of those who have led before us. The impact of poor leadership can be just as influential as being guided by an empathetic and understanding leader. These experiences shape our understanding of what effective leadership entails and hopefully inspire us to embody those qualities when we are given the opportunity to lead.
By leveraging my expertise in interpersonal communication and experience in the world of tech start-ups, I empower teams to reach their full potential without the burden of trial and error. I provide the guidance and support necessary to cultivate strong leadership that will last long after I’m gone. By removing barriers and fostering a culture of continuous growth and development, I am committed to enabling teams to thrive in an ever-changing work environment.
For me and the talented individuals I work with, leadership is not a destination but a journey—one that requires dedication, humility, and a willingness to learn from both triumphs and setbacks. By no means am I done learning and growing as a leader myself. I continue to lean on the lessons of the past and embrace the guidance from my own mentors. Together, we can chart a course towards a future of effective leadership and organizational growth.
Celebration and Gratitude
I published my first Candor from Kaitlin article on 3/3/23. You’ll notice we aren’t at Issue #52 yet, because, as it turns out, coming up with content and making the time to write is more challenging than one would think. Despite that, it feels like a really big win to have all of you here, a year later. We are still a small group, but slow growth has been comfortable while doing a lot of uncomfortable things at the same time. Thank you for the weeks you open my writing and take time to read it. Thank you for all of the notes of encouragement, the moments you’ve shared with me where you felt seen in my words, and for every “like” and “comment” that you’ve left. I don’t tell you each week that “I’m grateful you’re here” as a trope, I truly mean it. I’m eternally grateful that you value what I have to say (and how I say it). Cheers to year number 2 and maybe (maybe) doubling our subscriber count.