It’s been a heavy day today. I’ll keep this post blunt, short and honest. One of my teammates is leaving the company after a year and 3 months stint. There are reasons to deal with but the thing I can’t really compete with are greener pastures. SEO Hacker is almost 2 years now as a team and as an operating office. We’re still quite small in terms of age, skill, overall experience and size.
It’s heavy and I’m quite down. God has His purposes, I know. But even king David when Absalom was killed, mourned for some time. People come and go in business. I know that. Before reaching the ‘critical mass’ stage of a company’s life, it has to go through lots of trouble, hardship, toil, and hellos and good-byes. It’s part of a company’s life. And being the owner, it hits me the hardest.
The reason behind it is we’re more than just a team – we’re a family. Each second, minute, hour I invest in my people is meant to develop them as professionals and to develop our team as a family. It’s not just about the work, but the relationship. Today we’re going to lose a family member. That’s for sure. It’s a sad thing.
Things came into my mind such as: am I doing it all wrong? Perhaps I should tread the way of traditional companies? Perhaps I should cut costs? Perhaps I should retain only the loyal ones? Perhaps I should invest in lower level people?
But these are not things that have built our company DNA. These are things that I wanted to move away from. And I know that the rewards are at the end of the tunnel when someday we’ll be where we envisioned ourselves to be and the people who have stayed with me will look back and we’ll tell ourselves “We’ve gone a long way.”
It’s really not about the destination but about the treasures of the journey. The experiences, the pains, the laughter, the discoveries, the camaraderie, the food trips, the games, the occasions we’ve shared. Those things are priceless. I’m not about to trade those away.
People may tell me that I should change how I run, manage, and/or lead the company / team. But I really wish to stick to what I have or make it even better. I don’t want to go back to the traditional way. I don’t want to go back to being more secure. I don’t want to make it a company with the motto: ‘no one is indispensable.’
I want to make a dent in history. A change. Something like an Elon Musk. Perhaps a Steve Jobs. I want to be a world changer.
These are hard, troubled, narrow roads. The rocks are spiked and we’re treading carefully. Slowly. But I want to pass through. At the end of it all, I want to sit on top of the mountain and look back down and tell myself “It was all worth it.”
Everything happens for a reason and purpose – of a greater being. I will never comprehend it or see what it is at the end of the tunnel. I can only see that there’s a light and it’s the way to go. These are times of surrender. Times of planning. Times of reflecting. Times of change.
So here’s to a brand new day Sean. The crossroads has put you in the middle. Make a choice.
Make it good.
