Rank Matters… Until You Leave the Ground
A helicopter pilot friend of mine — an Army veteran now serving in the National Guard — shared something that stuck with me:
“Rank matters… until you leave the ground.”
In other words, structure, hierarchy, and command are absolutely necessary for alignment. But once the mission begins, execution depends on trust, competence, and clear shared goals.
This lesson translates directly into small business leadership.
Structure Provides Clarity
Jim Collins, in Good to Great, writes about getting “the right people on the bus, in the right seats.” Without defined roles, accountability, and a clear organizational chart, businesses can drift. People duplicate efforts or work at cross-purposes. Rank — or in business terms, roles and responsibilities — does matter.
Structure gives your team confidence in who makes decisions, who communicates what, and how progress is measured. Without that clarity, frustration builds.
Execution Requires Trust
But once the “bus” is moving — or the helicopter has lifted off — it’s not rank that gets you to the mission objective. It’s execution. And sound team execution requires trust.
Stephen M. R. Covey, in The Speed of Trust, reminds us that trust is not soft or optional. It’s a measurable, economic driver. Teams that trust one another move faster, waste less energy second-guessing, and deliver results with greater consistency.
Simon Sinek puts it bluntly: the highest-performing teams are not built only on competence, but on trustworthiness. Would you rather fly with a pilot who is skilled but reckless, or one who is steady and reliable? The same is true in business leadership.
The Small Business Problem
Many small business owners struggle here:
They’ve built their company on hard work and hustle.
Their team looks to them for every decision.
Growth stalls because they can’t let go, delegate, or trust others to execute.
The result? The owner is overworked and working outside of their expertise, the team feels underutilized, and growth decelerates.
The Path Forward
The solution isn’t to abandon structure — it’s to combine structure with trust.
Define the mission clearly. Be explicit about goals, outcomes, and success metrics.
Clarify roles & responsibilities. Make sure everyone knows who’s in which “seat on the bus.”
Trust your people. Give them the freedom to execute. Hold them accountable for results, not for following your every instruction.
When leaders balance structure with trust, they unlock both speed and engagement. That’s when organizations really start to fly.
A Question for You
If you’re a small business owner, ask yourself:
Do your people know their seat on the bus?
Do they know the mission objective?
Do you trust them enough to “leave the ground” and carry it out?
If the answer is no — maybe it’s time to consider some change, to yourself or the system.
