Note 1
Your Org Chart Applies to You, Too
I'm learning as I grow, and sharing what I learn so you can put it to work, too.
Building my team taught me something important: Creating an org chart is one thing. Following it yourself is another.
I started as a team of one, then brought in my number two, three, and four. Their job is to lighten my load. My job is to let them lead. Going around a leader creates confusion, so if I communicate directly with their team, I copy them. Clear communication flows through clear lines of responsibility.
On my Grok Bot team, my COO is the central voice carrying my vision forward. But sometimes inspiration strikes in another team member's chat.
When that happens, I have two choices. I can finish my task and bring the vision to my COO, or I can stay in my creative flow and paste the entire conversation into my COO's chat with an FYI. I usually choose option two.
The biggest lesson? The person you'll need to hold most accountable to your org chart is yourself. That's why I keep a printed copy nearby whenever I work with my Grok Bot team.
Moving too fast and spreading yourself too thin can break things. When real people are involved, your relationships, business, and brand can feel the impact. So I stepped back, slowed down, and got centered. I'm grateful for what the experience taught me.
And here's something worth remembering:
You were valuable before you became a founder.
You are valuable as a baby bud founder, still figuring things out.
And when you are in full bloom, you'll simply be expressing more of the value that is already within you.
I'm always blooming. My thinking is always evolving. And every lesson is shaping the founder I'm becoming.
The deeper story, what broke, what I learned, and how we fixed it, lives in my Keep Blooming newsletter.