I learned the skill running high school track.
I was never interested in team sports, but I loved track. I was confident in my speed and agility, and that made me a star on my high school team. This was always part of my personality: I am an individual; I do things my way. But one day at a track meet, I was competing in the 4-by-100-meter relay, which requires runners to pass a baton between each other three times. We were winning — until I fumbled the pass. The baton fell to the ground. We lost.
I was devastated, so my coach pulled me aside. He handed me the baton. “This,” he said, “isn’t just about speed. It’s about precision, trust, and knowing exactly when to give and when to take. Sometimes, the most powerful move isn’t running faster, but passing smarter.”
Those words rebalanced me. I came to realize: My individual strength means nothing if I cannot run in sync with others.
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I always kept this in mind as I grew up. I applied it to my marriage, to our decision to adopt children, and to my business strategy. After working in corporate for a while, I began working with entrepreneurs — sometimes as a coach/mentor, sometimes as a strategist to businesses I invest in, and sometimes by acquiring and running companies myself.
In many entrepreneurs, I’ve seen an echo of my past self. These are individually oriented people. They believe that hard work — and doing everything themselves — is a kind of badge of honor. So I’ve learned to approach them the way my track coach does, and to tell them: Passing the baton isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a strategic skill.
For example, I once worked with a founder who struggled to scale his sales operation. He had an incredible product, but lacked the infrastructure for rapid expansion. So I proposed a partnership: He would “pass the baton” of growth strategy and execution to my agency, but maintain everything his team was already great at. He agreed. My team implemented new pricing and positioning, and developed a targeted outreach program. They maintained control of development. Within half a year, they saw a 120% increase in quarterly revenue.
I know how hard it is to let go. That’s why I still have that baton from high school — the same one my coach handed to me on the day we lost that race. I keep it in my office as a reminder: My greatest successes come from knowing when my energy, insight, and hands-on involvement are needed, and when they are not. It’s a lesson I now love passing to others.
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I was never interested in team sports, but I loved track. I was confident in my speed and agility, and that made me a star on my high school team. This was always part of my personality: I am an individual; I do things my way. But one day at a track meet, I was competing in the 4-by-100-meter relay, which requires runners to pass a baton between each other three times. We were winning — until I fumbled the pass. The baton fell to the ground. We lost.
I was devastated, so my coach pulled me aside. He handed me the baton. “This,” he said, “isn’t just about speed. It’s about precision, trust, and knowing exactly when to give and when to take. Sometimes, the most powerful move isn’t running faster, but passing smarter.”
Those words rebalanced me. I came to realize: My individual strength means nothing if I cannot run in sync with others.
