My partner and I had no business experience when we started our branding agency. I didn’t even have a college degree. Despite our limited skills, our endeavor grew quickly. Over seven years, we hired a team, brought on a third partner, and created a structured organization with me at the helm as CEO.
Then we made a strategic shift that removed the primary service I personally provided. Looking back, it was the right decision for the business.
But less than a year later, I realized something uncomfortable: I led a company that specialized in branding, and I just didn’t get fired up about branding.
The Pivot No One Expected
My first instinct was to dive deeper. To be a great CEO, I figured I needed to immerse myself in the craft so I could become passionate about it. Isn’t that what great leaders do?
But passion can’t be manufactured. And faking it was exhausting.
So I made a different choice. I met with my co-founder and told him I thought he was the right person for the CEO position. The next year became my swansong as I navigated our team through COVID and then quietly moved into COO.
I settled into the new role and ran it well for about two years. But after a decade, I didn’t love my job anymore. Knowing the company was on the path to greatness didn’t leave me feeling fulfilled.
Sometimes You Have to Give Up to Go Up
John Maxwell said it: “Sometimes you have to give up to go up.”
I eventually stepped down from leadership entirely and started a new venture focused on executive coaching — helping entrepreneurs and business leaders find direction in their careers. It’s what I was made to do.
I could have continued being a key leader in a well-respected business. But I’d have been miserable.
That realization — that goodness (alignment with who I really am) matters more than greatness (the title, the recognition, the status quo) — is what led me to write Goodness over Greatness.
