It's 2016. I'm a junior developer at my first real job. We have a big release coming up that includes several new features. Myself and two other developers have been spending nights and weekends at the office.
I've been at my desk for 14 hours. It's 21h00 on a Friday evening. I walk upstairs to stretch my legs and find the CEO sitting alone in one of the boardrooms. He's working on some complicated backend functionality required for the release. A third-party developer was meant to be building this, but they'd been dragging their feet. Our team didn't have the capacity to take on the work.
I asked him what he was still doing in the office. He had a wife and two kids at home. He simply said, "Someone has to do it."
He wasn't a developer by trade. He had taught himself over the previous few weeks because he could see the writing on the wall. He had two choices: Complain to the third party about being behind schedule, knowing the deadline wouldn't move and nothing would likely change. Or just do it himself.
The moral isn't that you should be working late on a Friday night when you have a family at home. The moral is this: There are things in life that need to be done. And if there's a real chance they won't get done, it's better for you to step up and do them.
"Leaders must own everything in their world. There is no one else to blame."
— Jocko Willink, Extreme Ownership
If a team member is frustrated, you didn't handle the situation well. If a team member fails at a task, you didn't prepare them properly. If a project is late, you didn't manage it well enough. Leaders assume responsibility for everything. They take the blame. They distribute the credit.
That doesn't mean doing everything yourself. It means refusing to hide behind excuses.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Don't give someone a task and then immediately take it back just to do it yourself. Use it as a teaching moment, not a habit.
- Don't convince yourself you must do everything because you can do it better or faster. As your business grows, delegation becomes mandatory.
- Don't let your ego grow because you stepped in unexpectedly. Just do it. Get it done. Move on.
- Don't use "someone has to do it" as an excuse to neglect the people who matter most. Choose your moments wisely.
- Don't use "somebody has to do it" to pick up tasks that others could be doing while you procrastinate on the real work that only you can do.
This mindset shouldn't stop at work. Extend it to your home. Do the dishes need washing? Do them instead of pointing out whose turn it is. Does the dog need a walk? Take her out before your partner gets home. Is the trash full? Empty it without announcing it.
If it only costs you time and energy and the outcome benefits everyone, then step up. In work. In life. Somebody has to do it.