I almost didn’t recognize the person in the mirror.
I told myself “New Year, New Me.” Usually, I roll my eyes at that phrase. It feels like fluff. It feels like the kind of empty slogan you see on Instagram right before people abandon their resolutions in February.
But this year, we are committing. Consistency requires change. You cannot build a consistent future if you are holding onto a stagnant past.
You might have noticed I have been quiet for a while. The “Helpful Hive” went dormant. I didn’t schedule posts. I didn’t check analytics. I didn’t engage.
I stepped away. And in doing so, I learned a vital lesson about leadership that the startup world tries hard to make us forget.
The Myth of “Always On”
In the startup ecosystem, silence is often interpreted as failure. The narrative tells us that if you aren’t posting, you aren’t growing. If you aren’t visible, you are dying.
I disagree. Silence is where the signal comes back.
I took this break because I needed to recenter. I realized I was operating on “autopilot,” reacting to the business rather than leading it. When you are trapped in the daily grind, the noise of operations drowns out the vision of where the company needs to go next.
Reacting vs. Leading
There is a dangerous difference between being busy and being effective.
- Reacting: Answering emails, putting out fires, and chasing metrics.
- Leading: Setting the course, anticipating market shifts, and empowering the team.
I found myself doing too much of the former and not enough of the latter. I had to unplug to recalibrate.
Silence Is a Business Strategy
To the founders who feel guilty for wanting to disappear for a week, I have one piece of advice. Do it.
The business will survive. In fact, it will probably get better. Your company does not need a CEO who is just “present” and grinding through tasks. It needs a leader who is awake, alert, and capable of high-level strategic thought.
How to Unplug Without Crashing
You cannot just vanish. You must prepare your team.
- Delegate Authority: Empower your department heads to make decisions in your absence.
- Set Boundaries: make it clear what constitutes a true emergency.
- Trust the Process: If the ship sinks because you stepped away for five days, you didn’t build a company. You built a job.
The Hive Is Open
The break did exactly what it was supposed to do. I am back with a commitment to lead with renewed clarity, consistency, and vision.
We have some massive things to build this year at Bee Techy. We are moving faster, thinking bigger, and executing with more precision than ever before.
To my team and our clients, thanks for waiting for me. The silence is over. Now the real work begins.
This article was originally published as a social media series. Click here to view the original discussion on LinkedIn and join the conversation.
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