You Achieve Nothing Alone

Me and Hong Anh modeling our new "Rocket Team" t-shirts.

In all of human history there are very few great achievements that have been done by one person working totally alone.

The reality is that there is a severe limit to the amount that one person can achieve by working totally alone.  Your ability to get results is directly related to your ability to connect with people, communicate your idea and inspire them into action.

Leaders are a lot like professional soccer coaches (soccer is big here in Vietnam).  The coach doesn’t kick the ball.  He doesn’t guard the goal.  His influence is indirect at best during the game.  What he *does* do is recruit players, train them, motivate them and set overall strategy.  And everyone gives him the credit (or the blame) if the team wins (or loses).

If you are a leader, you have the same job as the soccer coach.

As CEO, I like to say that I do nothing.  I don’t sell.  I don’t program the website.  I don’t do accounting.  I don’t talk to candidates.  I don’t create advertisements or do SEO.  I achieve results only if the team achieves results.

My number one responsibility is recruiting the right people, putting them in the right places, articulating a vision and setting the direction.

If you’re a leader, that’s your number one responsibility too.