This Weakness is Actually a Strength
My first couple years out of college, I was confused.
My muscle memory from school told me I needed to solve things alone. I took tests, wrote papers, did presentations ... alone.
School was an individual sport. Business is a team sport.
I had to unwind this idea that asking for help was a sign of weakness.
(Still working on it, honestly.)
There's this false narrative that can run rampant in our minds as leaders—that we need to go it alone to be great. That we need to solve everything ourselves.
I've studied quite a few leaders in my first 36 years on earth.
Here's what I'm figuring out:
Asking for help is a superpower.
Asking for help is part of playing a team sport. It builds belonging. It builds trust.
When you take the time to read the dense biographies of the greats (I've read quite a few over the past decade), you discover something fascinating:
There are incredible people helping because a leader asked for help.
The greats don't cut corners with who works alongside them. And they don't fail to ask for help.
Here's a list that came to mind today:
Tom Brady had an incredible offensive line and hall of famers like Ty Law and Randy Moss.
Michael Jordan had an incredible supporting cast—particularly Scottie Pippen, who was a top-3 player in the NBA on a standalone basis. (In 1993-94, he was All-NBA first team and All-Defensive team the year MJ was playing baseball, leading the team to 55 wins.)
Tiger Woods had Steve Williams, an incredible caddie who would walk courses multiple times to analyze pin placements and winds. Tiger's win percentage dropped from 30% to 15% without Steve.
Michael Dell asked Lee Walker to help. Walker initially declined, then joined. Under his leadership as president (1986–1990), Dell grew from a dorm-room startup into a public company, hitting nearly $546 million in revenue by 1991.
Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak, the wizard. Jobs could imagine the future, but Wozniak built it. He single-handedly designed and engineered the Apple I and Apple II: hardware, circuit board, and software.
Warren Buffett had Charlie Munger. Buffett was a pure Ben Graham-style investor, focused on buying “cigar butts” — deeply undervalued companies with one last puff of value. Munger convinced him to shift toward buying great businesses at fair prices, not just fair businesses at great prices.
The list could go on. I could write a book on this alone.
(Maybe I will.)
My point in highlighting this: we all should be asking for help.
Don't spend time spinning your wheels.
Who not how. (Great book by Dan Sullivan.)
Who then what. (Great concept from Jim Collins.)
Find the right person for the problem in front of you today, this week, and the rest of the year ahead of us.
Because the best leaders aren't the ones who have all the answers.
They're the ones who know how to ask the right questions to the right people.
Onward,
Matt
P.S. If asking for help feels vulnerable, good. That means you're doing it right.