The LeanScaper Podcast How to Build a Leadership Team Before You Burn Out w/ Barry Hartman
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Oct 14, 2025 Barry Hartman, founder of 505-Junk and leadership coach, shares transformative insights on building a robust leadership team. He emphasizes starting the process sooner than expected to prevent burnout. Hartman explains how to design roles that foster ownership, while noting the importance of culture over credentials in blue-collar leadership. He discusses strategic hiring and when to prioritize internal leaders versus external candidates, ultimately helping businesses thrive without relying solely on the founder.
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Building Leaders To Live Anywhere
- Barry promised his wife he'd make the business runnable from anywhere so they could live in two countries.
- He built leaders so problems stop at department heads, enabling remote life and family commitments.
Problems Should Stop At Leaders
- A leadership team means problems flow to departmental heads, not the founder.
- Leaders guide solutions and empower teams instead of executing every task themselves.
Costly Ego Hire Versus Homegrown VP
- Barry shared a bad hire: a senior title bought too early that delivered little ROI and quit within a year.
- He contrasted that with Alex, who started in trucks and rose to VP through long-term development.