Are You Holding On To Your LEGOs?!
Anthony & April are out of the country celebrating the 5-year work anniversary of Footers Catering Business Development Manager Erin Hehn! Soon after, they’ll be doing the same for Sarah Amick, Tabitha Hossfeld (5 years), Jason Sutton (10 years), and even more team members in the years ahead. I’d like to give a special shoutout to these leaders and a huge THANK YOU for their commitment to our mission: Love What You Do, Make It Better Every Day, and Create Exceptional Experiences. You can read a previous post about our 5-Year Anniversary Adventures here.
That also means you’re stuck with me for this week’s guest post. Here goes nothing!
This is a pile of LEGOs. They used to be yours. You gave them away. You have a new set that is bigger and better!
As some of you know (and many of you don’t), I originally intended to become an architect. I even earned a Master of Architecture degree from Arizona State University (or, as I like to call it, the Harvard of the Southwest). Naturally, I ended up at a catering company…which spun out a venue business and a leadership development venture. That’s a story for another day. All that to say: I’ve always loved playing with LEGOs.
Recently, I came across the “Give Away Your LEGOs” analogy about leadership and growth. Molly Graham, who helped scale teams at Google and Facebook, realized that to keep growing the company, she had to give away pieces of her role every few months so she could tackle the next challenge. Here’s the original article. It’s a fantastic (and very tech/hypergrowth-focused) read.
For our world at Footers/Social Capitol/MIBE, I wanted to share a slightly more grounded take and add some real-life nuance from my own recent experiences.
I’ve always struggled with letting go. Whether it’s physical stuff, emotions, bad habits, or old responsibilities at work, I want to hang on tight and remain in control. It sounds so simple: “Just give away your LEGOs!” But in practice, here are three outcomes I’ve seen, and what I’ve learned from each:
They might take your LEGOs and build something completely different. The end result wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t what I expected, nor how I would have done it. I gave them all the pieces and painted some broad strokes, but if I wanted an exact replica, I needed to provide the full instruction manual with pictures and detailed specs. Lesson learned: Next time, I’ll clearly define what’s non-negotiable versus what’s open to interpretation.
They might take your LEGOs, dump them on the floor, build nothing, and leave you stepping on them barefoot. WTF?! This time I was crystal clear about the end product. I provided instructions, diagrams, tools, the works. Turns out this was simply asking a fish to climb a tree. Had I played to their actual strengths, it would have gone swimmingly. Sometimes the mismatch is in the fit, not the instructions.
They might take your LEGOs and build exactly what you had in mind. Or something even better! EVERYTHING IS AWESOOOOME!!! (Bonus points if you get the reference.) This is Sonny running day-to-day operations on the MIBE team without my input. It’s Hannah turning brand refresh assets into beautiful, comprehensive Brand Guidelines. It’s Brennan taking over property/facility maintenance, elevating standards across the Warehouse Team and supporting Design Department growth. Success has come from tailoring my handoff to each person: some thrive with full documentation, some just need the vision, and some do best when we talk it through together first.
In every case, whether the build was different/nonexistent/better than I imagined, letting go has freed me up to tackle the next big LEGO set: the next advancement that moves a person, a department, or the whole company forward.
This week, I encourage you to look at what LEGOs you might be holding onto a little too tightly. Try giving a few away!
One brick at a time,
Sam
P.S. Need LEGOs for your leadership? Join us at our MIBE Workshop May 12th - 13th.
