DEAR INDUSTRY: EVERYBODY DOESN'T NEED TO BE THE BOSS

Somewhere along the way, we became obsessed with being the boss.

Everybody wants to be the CEO. The founder. The executive producer. The creative director. The person whose name is on the flyer. The person sitting at the head of the table. And don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to build something of your own. I am an entrepreneur myself, so I will always support people who have a vision and are willing to do the work to bring that vision to life. But Dear Industry, we need to have a conversation that some people probably aren't going to like.

Everybody doesn't need to be the boss.

And more importantly, everybody isn't equipped to be one.

We have spent so much time glorifying entrepreneurship that somehow being a great team member started feeling like something less than. We tell everybody to start the business, create the brand, launch the show, produce the event, build the platform and become their own boss. But who said success could only be measured by ownership? Who convinced us that helping someone else build something amazing meant we weren't building anything ourselves?

There is power in knowing how to lead, but there is also power in knowing how to follow good leadership.

And before somebody takes the word "follow" the wrong way, following doesn't mean being weak, voiceless or incapable of thinking for yourself. It means understanding that sometimes your role is to take a vision and help execute it. Sometimes you're not supposed to be the person creating the blueprint. You may be the person who knows how to take that blueprint and turn it into something incredible. And trust me, that person is just as valuable.

I've worked on enough projects, productions and events over the years to know that a title doesn't make you a leader. I've also worked with people who didn't have the biggest title in the room but were absolutely essential to everything happening in that room. They were dependable. They communicated. They solved problems. They didn't need to be micromanaged. They understood the assignment, handled their responsibilities and sometimes saw things that even the person in charge didn't see.

Those are the people you want on your team.

The problem is that too many people want leadership positions before they've learned how to be good team members. They want to produce before they've learned production. They want to manage people before they've learned how to manage themselves. They want to create events without understanding logistics. They want to run organizations without understanding operations. They want to lead teams when they haven't learned how to communicate, delegate, resolve conflict or take accountability when something goes wrong.

Everybody wants the title. Not everybody wants the responsibility that comes with it.

Because being the boss isn't just making decisions and telling people what to do. Sometimes being the boss means you're the first one there and the last one to leave. It means when something goes wrong, everybody may have contributed to the problem, but ultimately it still falls on you. It means having difficult conversations. It means making decisions people won't always agree with. It means putting your own money on the line. It means losing sleep over problems your team may never even know existed because you handled them before they reached them.

That part doesn't look nearly as cute on Instagram.

I also think social media has played a huge role in how we view success. Everybody is a CEO in their bio now. Everybody is a founder. Everybody is building an empire. But we rarely celebrate the amazing project manager, assistant, coordinator, stylist, production manager, stage manager, administrator or team member who keeps the so-called empire running.

Why?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being exceptional at what you do without wanting to own the entire operation.

Some people are incredible visionaries. Some people are incredible executors. Some people are great at strategy. Others are great at operations. Some people know how to walk into a chaotic situation and organize the hell out of it. Some people can take somebody else's idea and make it ten times better. That's not a lesser skill. That's a gift.

And quite frankly, the industry needs those people.

We don't need another hundred people starting organizations that all do essentially the same thing simply because everybody wants their own name at the top. Sometimes the smarter move is to look around and ask, "Who's already doing this well, and how can I bring what I do to the table?"

Imagine what could happen if we stopped seeing collaboration as giving up ownership.

Imagine what could happen if instead of creating five mediocre versions of the same thing, five talented people came together and created one damn good one.

Now, I'm not saying you should spend your entire career building somebody else's dream if you have a vision burning inside of you. If you're supposed to build something, BUILD IT. I'm certainly not going to tell anyone to shrink themselves because somebody else already has a seat at the table.

But I am saying we need to stop creating businesses, titles and platforms simply because our egos won't allow us to play a supporting role.

There's a difference between knowing you're meant to lead and simply wanting to be in charge.

And here's another uncomfortable truth: sometimes working under somebody else is exactly where you learn what you need to know before it's your turn to lead. There's no shame in learning. There's no shame in observing. There's no shame in helping somebody else succeed while you're developing your own skills. In fact, some of the best leaders I've encountered understand how to follow because they've spent time doing it.

They know what it feels like to receive bad direction, so they communicate better.

They know what it feels like to be undervalued, so they appreciate their teams.

They know what it's like to do the grunt work, so they don't look down on the people doing it now.

That's leadership.

Our industry doesn't just need more bosses. We need more people who understand their strengths. We need people who can lead when it's time to lead and support when it's time to support. We need people who don't need their name in lights to know their contribution mattered. And we desperately need people who understand that being part of something successful doesn't make you less successful simply because you weren't the person in charge.

So before you start the next company, organization, event, platform, show, agency, publication or brand, ask yourself a real question.

Do I genuinely have a vision that needs to exist, or do I just want to be the boss?

Because those are two very different things.

And if the answer is that you don't want to be the boss at all, there's nothing wrong with that either. Find what you're damn good at. Become exceptional at it. Bring value wherever you go. Build your reputation. Get paid for your expertise. Sit at the table and contribute something that makes everybody at that table better.

Success doesn't always mean your name has to be at the top.

Sometimes being the person everybody knows they can't do it without is powerful enough.

Dear Industry, everybody doesn't need to be the boss. We just need everybody to understand the value of the role they're meant to play, and play the hell out of it.