Let’s talk about two kinds of people you’ll run into in this space—both in software and in leadership.
There are builders. And there are collectors.
You can spot a collector pretty quickly in the software world. They’ve got all the shiny tools, but none of them really fit together. Need a panic button? Sure, they’ve got one. Visitor management? That too. Threat reporting, reunification tools, notification systems—all present and accounted for. But dig a little deeper, and you find out each one was bought from a different company. It’s like they went shopping at a tech thrift store and tried to pass it off as a custom suit.
That’s the collector approach: piece together a bunch of stuff, put your logo on it, and call it a solution. The problem is, none of it really works together. The interfaces clash, the data doesn’t flow, and users are left navigating a Frankenstein system held together by duct tape and support tickets.
Builders? They do things differently. They start with a need, not a product. They listen to people who actually use the tools. And instead of buying their way into new features, they build them, so everything fits together the way it should. One system, one experience. No guesswork. It’s not just more elegant—it’s a whole lot more reliable when it matters.
But this mindset isn’t just about software. You see it in leadership too.
There are leaders who are collectors. They hand out titles and responsibilities like trading cards, but never invest in actually developing people. They’ve got a team, sure—but it’s a team that’s been built to follow orders, not think critically. When something goes sideways, everyone’s waiting for permission. Or worse, they’re waiting for the one person who always makes the decisions to show up and fix it.
And then there are the builder types. These are the folks who put in the time to train their staff—not just on what to do, but why it matters. They delegate, but they also coach. They want their people to be able to handle things without needing a step-by-step guide or a sign-off. They create leaders, not just job titles.
In a crisis—or even just a tough day—that difference shows. Builder-led teams step up. They know how to handle things because they’ve been built to think, not just react. Collector-led teams freeze. Or they fumble. Or they wait for someone else to take the lead.
None of this is about being perfect. It’s just about being intentional. If you’re in a position to build something—whether that’s software, a team, or a plan—then do the work to build it right. It’ll take longer, and it’ll feel slower up front. But when things get messy (and they will), that foundation will hold.
If you’re leading people, you owe them more than delegation. You owe them the kind of leadership that builds trust, skill, and confidence. And if you’re choosing tools, choose the ones that were built with the big picture in mind—not the ones someone collected just to check a box.
Because in the end, builders don’t just make better systems-. They build better outcomes. And that’s kind of the whole point, isn’t it?
No Comments Yet
Let us know what you think