The "Hero" Employee: Why Your MVP Might Be Your Biggest Risk
On the surface, you feel lucky to have them. But if we’re being honest, that person is actually a massive risk to your company’s stability.
We all have that one person on the team. You know the one - the "Hero." Whenever a project is falling apart or a client has an impossible request, they step in and save the day. They stay late, they have all the answers tucked away in their head, and they seem to be the only ones who truly know how things work.
On the surface, you feel lucky to have them. But if we’re being honest, that person is actually a massive risk to your company’s stability.
The problem isn't the employee; it's the "Hero Culture." When a business relies on individual heroics to get things done, it’s usually a sign that your systems are broken - or worse, that they don’t exist at all.
Think about it this way: If a specific task requires "Bob" to use his 10 years of tribal knowledge and intuition to succeed, you don’t have a process. You have a dependency. And you can’t grow a business that is built on dependencies.
This creates a "fragile" business. What happens if your Hero gets burnt out? What if they decide to move on, or even just take a two-week vacation? Usually, the owner starts sweating because they know that when that person leaves the building, a huge chunk of the company’s operating manual leaves with them.
Relying on heroes also prevents the rest of your team from growing. When one person is always there to step in and fix mistakes, the rest of the staff never gains the experience or the ability to handle those situations themselves. You end up with a lopsided team where one person is overworked and everyone else is just waiting for instructions.
Your goal as a leader isn’t to find more heroes. It’s to build a culture where the systems are the backbone. You want to create documentation and workflows so clear that the results are consistent, regardless of who is sitting in the chair.
It sounds cold, but a healthy business is one where the "Bus Test" isn't terrifying. If any one person (including you) got hit by a bus tomorrow, the business should be able to keep breathing.
Real growth happens when you stop rewarding the late-night saves and start rewarding the people who build the checklists that make the saves unnecessary. It’s less dramatic, sure. There aren't as many capes involved. But it’s the only way to build a company that can actually stand on its own two feet.
BookWise Bookkeeping
Phone 314-325-2478
info@bookwisestl.com