“Leadership doesn’t arrive with a title. It grows through responsibility.”

Part 3: Leadership, Identity, and Letting Go

No one really tells you that leadership changes you.

When I started my business, I thought leadership would come from making decisions, setting direction, and solving problems. That part is true. But what I didn’t expect was how much it would challenge my identity.

Becoming a founder wasn’t just a change in role. It was a shift in how I think, how I show up, and how much responsibility I’m willing to carry.

Lesson 11: Leadership starts before the title feels real

I didn’t wake up one day feeling like a founder.

The title came early. The confidence came much later.

In the beginning, leadership showed up in small, unglamorous ways. Making decisions without complete information. Standing behind choices when they didn’t go perfectly. Taking responsibility when things didn’t work, even if the issue wasn’t directly my fault.

I learned that leadership isn’t something you step into once you feel ready. You step into it because someone has to, and over time, you grow into it.

Lesson 12: Your mindset becomes the business

In the early days, everything ran through me.

How I communicated. How I handled pressure. How I responded to mistakes. The team picked up on all of it. I realised quickly that the business would reflect my habits, not my intentions.

If I was unclear, things became unclear.

If I rushed, others rushed.

If I stayed calm, problems stayed manageable.

Leadership isn’t just about strategy. It’s about emotional discipline.

QA taught me to slow down and think before reacting. Entrepreneurship taught me how important that habit really is when people depend on you.

Lesson 13: Letting go is part of leading

Letting go was one of the hardest lessons.

I cared deeply about the work. About the people. About getting things right. That made delegation uncomfortable. But holding on too tightly came at a cost. It limited growth and created unnecessary pressure.

Leadership required me to trust others, even when they didn’t do things exactly my way. Especially then.

Letting go didn’t mean lowering standards. It meant shifting my role from doing to guiding, from controlling to supporting.

That transition is ongoing. But every time I let go of something at the right moment, the business became stronger.

Lesson 14: Culture is built in the small moments

I don’t believe culture is defined by slogans or values written on a website.

Culture is built into how problems are handled. How feedback is given. How mistakes are treated. How people are supported when things are hard.

Because we work remotely, I became very intentional about this. I wanted people to feel like part of something, not just names on a contract. That meant regular check-ins, honest conversations, and clarity around expectations.

Leadership isn’t about being liked. It’s about being fair, consistent, and human.

Lesson 15: You grow into the founder you become

Impostor syndrome didn’t disappear when the business became more stable.

There were moments I questioned whether I was making the right decisions, whether I was moving too slowly, or whether I was really cut out for this role.

What helped wasn’t external validation. It was evidence. Problems I had solved. People I had supported. Decisions that held up over time.

Leadership confidence didn’t arrive as a feeling. It arrived as a result.

What this stage taught me about leadership

Leadership, for me, is not about authority. It’s about responsibility.

Here’s what this phase taught me:

• Leadership grows through action, not titles.

• Your behaviour sets the tone for the business.

• Letting go is necessary for growth.

• Culture is shaped in everyday decisions.

• Confidence comes from evidence, not affirmation.

I’m still learning. I’m still adjusting. But I’m more aware now of the kind of leader I want to be.

Not perfect. But intentional.

Closing the series

This series started with why I began, moved through how I scaled, and ends with who I’m becoming as a founder.

Building my first business didn’t just teach me how to run a company. It taught me how to lead myself first.

And that, more than anything, is what makes the rest possible.

Cheers! – EG