How to Get Out of Your Own Way & Run Further with Your Team: A Framework for Jumpstarting Future Leaders

This is the second installment of a mini-blog series on applying solidarity to your team. 

According to John Paul II, solidarity is “a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis).” 

Today, we’re exploring how you can encourage a spirit of solidarity by empowering individuals to take ownership of their work.

Here are 3 steps to getting out of your own way and running further with your team.

Focus on the purpose of each role

One common pitfall that early-stage business leaders encounter is the belief that a smart hire can fix issues that the leaders themselves don’t understand. Essentially, they hire before understanding what exactly the role entails.

It’s easy to hire someone simply to “support” another role or act as a catch-all for many things you don’t have figured out.

But doing this launches a person into a position where expectations are unclear. As a result, work days become muddied with an assortment of unexplained and unrelated tasks, and hours are misspent. In the end, motivation flies out the window. 

Bottom line? Put thought and research into exactly what you need. Provide a well-defined job description that you’re aligned on with your current team and that corresponds to clear key performance indicators. 

Empowering someone not only to complete their assigned tasks but actually to take ownership of their role builds their capacity for future opportunities and individual expertise, while also increasing the good of the team as a whole. 

This serves both the common good and the individual good and builds a spirit of solidarity on your team. 

Fire yourself: Get rid of the “I’ll just do it myself” mentality

The dignity of work is a prominent theme in Catholic social teaching.

Work should be the setting for this rich personal growth, where many aspects of life enter into play: creativity, planning for the future, developing our talents, living out our values, relating to others, giving glory to God…Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development and personal fulfillment. Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work. - Pope Francis, Laudato Si

Part of enabling this “rich personal growth” is setting clear expectations. But another equally critical element is abandoning the “I’ll just do it myself” mentality. 

How many times has a team member asked you something that they should know in order to excel in their role…and you struggle to determine whether it’s just easier to do it yourself?  

If a task falls under what’s necessary for a team member to meet their KPIs, then it’s always worth it for them to take extra time to learn how to do it. 

That doesn’t mean that you need to create a detailed, written “how-to” guide for every project management tool or task. Check out our last blog post to learn more about varied ways of communicating through new tools. Check it out here. 

Embrace dependence. Become the leader your team needs you to be.

Envision yourself as a fully-equipped leader. 

You have a clear vision. You’ve built relationships of trust with your team. You run a capable team and lead your culture, not just your business, intentionally. 

But how do you become this fully-equipped leader? Two of our core values at SENT are putting God first and embracing dependence. That dependence is ultimately on God, but it can also be on the people that he’s placed around you. 

As a founder or executive, you face a multitude of unique challenges surrounding the sheer amount of responsibilities on your shoulders. That’s why it’s crucial to receive accountability and guidance from others outside of work, like a mentor, peer advisory group, spiritual director, or counselor, depending on your current needs. 

It’s not only “okay” to ask for help. It’s necessary to seek help out. 

Though sometimes overused, the phrase “God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called,” rings true. But God often qualifies people through his work in others. 

Becoming the leader you envision—one who makes Spirit-led decisions, cares about individuals and about the team as a whole, and cultivates a spirit of solidarity—means embracing dependence. 

SENT Fellowship

Are you a Catholic founder or business executive looking for a peer advisory group of qualified, values-aligned individuals? 

Consider joining SENT Fellowship. Deadline to apply is June 30th.