I’m in Redmond this week for Microsoft Connect 2025. Same campus. New gravity. And while this visit coincides with my 10-year resignation anniversary, I’m not here to retell my exit story. I’m here to share the single idea that has changed how I build: author your own game, find your mutation, and make it pay.
Author, not hero
Sitting amidst the giants of the once untouchable Microsoft elites (Jean-Philippe Courtois, Orlando Ayala, etc.), I cannot fight a clear observation: Corporates like Microsoft create their own heroes. They intentionally build personalities that become celebrities to employees. This is not to say that these people aren't talented or amazing. But there is a reason for "celebrity leadership."
These leaders need altitude. These leaders need to get tens of thousands of employees across the world to pull in one direction. That is main purpose, but there is a hidden downside. Employees can get so caught up in worshipping these heroes that they forget they can write a story of their own.
This morning, Jean-Philippe Courtois, a Microsoft pioneer, calmly said, "There is a wonderful life outside Microsoft." Authorship is not rebellion. Authorship is responsibility. It means picking up the pen and, with it, the weight that comes with building something other people depend on. If you want that life, you need a simple creed to steer you: value begets value, income follows production, and production precedes reward.
The corporate hero trap
The “hero” model is useful in a company. It creates role models and momentum. But from the floor it can do something unhelpful. It can make you feel smaller. You start to think the hero is superhuman and you are not. That belief slows good people for years.
Here is the reframing. The way that person became “the hero” was not by being good at everything. They leaned hard into a narrow set of strengths until the market felt it. You can do the same. Not by copying their path but by choosing authorship and writing a game that fits you.
X‑Men, not Superman
Superman is a myth. X‑Men is a model. Pick your mutation. Build around it.
When I say mutation, I mean leverage. The specific strength that makes you dangerous in the market. Maybe you are a Builder who can turn fuzzy ideas into usable product. Maybe you are a Storyteller who turns value into words people will pay to hear. Maybe you are a Seller, a Systemiser, or an Operator who keeps the machine honest. You do not need to be all five. You need to know which one is you.
Notice how this shows up in the leaders you know. Steve Jobs and Richard Branson were not “the product team.” Their leverage sat in Storytelling and Selling. Bill Gates was a product genius. He partnered with Steve Ballmer to scale the organisation. Different leverage. Same pattern. Pick the one thing. Compound it.
If this sounds abstract, try this once, on paper. List three situations where you created immense impact from your work. What talents did you employ? What came almost naturally to you? Spot your own talents. Circle the common elements. These talents become your leverage. Name it. Own it.
Know your role before you pick your product
Desperate to apply Simon Sinek's advice, most people focus on, "Why should I sell this product?" They are all about seeking the purpose of their company. Yes, that matters. But it is the secondary question. The first is “What role should I play in bringing any product to market?” When you answer that, the rest gets faster. You can see what you do well, what to delegate early, and which partners turn you from good to effective.
This is not ego. It is efficiency. Entrepreneurship rewards clear roles more than big intentions. When you start from leverage, you stop wasting years fighting yourself. You design the business so your best work shows up every day.
Build around the mutation
Once you name your role, build the shape of the team that lets it expand.
If Storyteller is your primary, pair early with a Systemiser who will turn your promises into repeatable steps and an Operator who will keep the promises on time. If Builder is your primary, add a Seller and a Storyteller to translate and close. If Seller is your primary, add a Systemiser for pipeline and a Builder for credible demos. The point is not to cover every box yourself. The point is to carry the standard, set the system, and give people the space to win.
This is where leadership grows up. Do not take everything personally. Do take responsibility seriously. Replace vague expectations with visible systems. People thrive when the game is clear.
From leverage to money
Mindset gets you moving. Marketing turns that motion into money. When I say marketing, I do not mean “more ads.” I mean two jobs that sit at the heart of a monetisable business: Systemisation and Positioning. Together they are how you turn potential into profit and keep it honest.
Systemisation is the set of methods and tools that improve team productivity and the customer’s experience. Map the path from lead to cash. Find the ugliest handoff. Fix that. Use technology only when it removes friction customers feel or waste your team creates. Not tech for its own sake. The goal is a machine that delivers value reliably and at a profit.
Positioning is the art of saying what you do so the right people see it as the obvious choice. Study the context, your company, your competitors, your customers, and segment with intent. Let that work produce a clear position. Then let the position set price, product, place, and promotion. Most small teams do not fail for lack of effort. They fail because the market cannot tell why they matter. Positioning fixes that.
Write this in one sentence: We help [specific customer] get [specific outcome] without [dreaded trade‑off]. Say it out loud. If you stumble, edit until it hits.
Choose your rung on the Rainmaker Scale
Different roles carry different revenue pressure. Maybe you're not ready to cast yourself fully into the riskiest, most exposed rainmaker category just yet. Use this scale to move yourself to the rung that you feel you can confront in the immediate term:
Bootstrapping entrepreneur. No buffer. Total exposure.
Funded entrepreneur. Some runway. Same expectations.
Other business owners. Tenure still carries risk.
Commission‑only seller. Eat what you kill.
Executive who owns the number. Title or not, you own revenue.
Salaried seller. Targets with a cushion.
Marketer who owns the number. Demand‑gen accountability.
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A quick exercise
What are the two to three actions you can take to move yourself up a rung on the rainmaker scale?
My vision
My vision is simple. Freedom through honest trade. It unlocks creative power, personal pride, and dignity. My mission is to help people access that freedom through the art of marketing. Mindset starts the fire. Systemisation and Positioning keep it burning.
That is why I push authorship over hero worship. Authorship puts the pen back in your hand. It forces the healthy kind of responsibility. It produces results you can count and results you can be proud of. You cannot buy the skills entrepreneurship forces on you. You can choose them, practice them, and teach them to your team.
Back to the start
Back at the sign outside Building 92, I felt grateful for the game that trained me and I've never been clearer about the game I now play. If you are ready to author yours, start with leverage. Build your team around it. And make it pay.
Reply to this post: Tell me your rung on the Rainmaker Scale and where you’d like to be. I read every reply.
Make it rAIn, KG