Leading First / Eating Last

Leading First / Eating Last

Eight Bit Studios made the Inc 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. This was a tremendous honor for us. My partner Steve Polacek and I spent a surprisingly productive week in San Antonio meeting others on the list and learning about the amazing companies that make up the list.

Among the many benefits of attending the San Antonio conference was attending the consistently impactful series of lectures and hands-on working sessions. A session that would stand out in anyone’s mind, of those who experienced it, was the chance to hear Tony Robbins speak. That was a lot of fun! A lot of what Tony said resonated to me. Afterall, Tony was speaking inspirationally and aspirationally to a room full of people who beat the odds: we all started a company, grew our companies, and are still at it!

One thing that Mr. Robbins repeatedly said that did not resonate with me was the notion of leaders going first. This may have been a subtle message lost on me, but the 500+ attendees in the room seems to be locked into what he was saying at this point. I am still not sure what he meant by it, but I was seemingly the only person not jumping up and down at those prompts. It gave me pause to reflect on my own impressions of leadership.

Leaders Eat Last: Introduced by the venerable Simon Sinek, the notion of leaders eating last is embedded deep in Eight Bit Studios’ DNA. Since we opened the doors, the owners of Eight Bit have been the last to get paid and the last to get praised. We believe in putting our people first. Without a great and reliable team, there is no ‘us’.

Leaders Model: Getting the most out of our team requires giving the most of ourselves. Don’t speak ill of clients or competitors and your team will follow suit. Model the behavior you want to see in your people. This is really good parenting advice too.

Leaders Learn: Gathering the entire team to focus on how to make the company better tomorrow than it is today is just one way we at Eight Bit learn from each other. We are essentially an office of professional peers. The best way to affect change is to observe closely and find opportunities to do right by your team.

In my mind, leadership is never about authority. Leadership is about collaboration and facilitation. When it comes down to it, leaders bear a tremendous amount of responsibility to their team. Making sure the team has what they need to get the job done and knowing that you have their back when the time comes. So, go forth and be a great leader. Be part of the team, don’t float above it.