When I think back to that undergraduate alligator study, I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had decided I needed to prove I could do it all myself. In all likelihood, I would have gotten myself — and possibly the alligator — in trouble.
Instead, success depended on a team: another student, a Florida Fish and Wildlife officer, an air boat, a spotlight, some electrical tape, and a plan. Each contributed something I couldn’t provide on my own.
There’s a leadership concept I return to often: no one person has to have all the answers. In fact, strong teams are often built around complementary strengths rather than individual heroics.
We sometimes confuse independence with strength. We celebrate the person who figures it out, stays late, solves the problem, and never needs to ask for help. But there’s another kind of strength that is much less visible: knowing when someone else has a skill, perspective, experience, or resource that you need.
That requires humility. It also requires trust. And sometimes, it requires letting go of the idea that asking for help means you aren’t capable.
I’ve come to believe the opposite: Being capable means knowing what you bring to the table… and knowing what you don’t.
So when you find yourself facing a particularly difficult “alligator,” consider looking around the boat. Who has experience you don’t? Who sees something you can’t? Who has a tool you need? Who might be willing to help?
You don’t have to be the strongest person in the boat.
You just need to recognize that you’re not in it alone.