Naomi Simson is Founding Director of RedBalloon, an “experiential gifting” company in Australia that she started in 2001. After years of hard work mixed with extreme fun, she found her company past the startup phase and found herself in the way of further growth. Moving to a new level of leadership allowed her business to move to the next level. Here are her words:
“I knew that how we did business (our values) would determine our culture, and that if everyone was aligned, anything could be possible. I used key indicators like… BHAG to make sure that the plan was on track and that everyone was aligned.
Yet that was my biggest fear… not being able to ‘control’ it all – i.e. that moment when Jemma (now Redii CEO) said “You have become the bottleneck. You have a team who can deliver on the vision – they have the power to do it – you need to get out of your way.” Extremely confronting at the time… yet I knew she told me it because she deeply cared and it became a pivotal moment.
“You have become the bottleneck. You have a team who can deliver on the vision – they have the power to do it – you need to get out of your way.”
~Jemma Fastnedge
I could not do it alone (or even with a small team). If we were ever going to achieve our BHAG, then something had to shift – and that was me and my approach to leadership. ”