Are You Jerry Jones or Shahid Khan?

Over the course of my career, I’ve worked with countless business owners. Some are visionaries. Some are grinders. Some are passionate craftsmen. But no matter the industry, I’ve found one simple truth: owners are either their own worst enemy or their greatest help.

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Now, that doesn’t mean being your own worst enemy makes you destructive or incapable. It simply means you have to be aware of how you operate inside your own company. Awareness is everything. Without it, you run in circles. With it, you can grow into the leader your company truly needs.

Let me explain by drawing a parallel to something I love: football.

The Jerry Jones Owner

Jerry Jones is the iconic owner of the Dallas Cowboys. He’s larger than life. He’s passionate. He’s invested. He doesn’t just sign checks and sit in a box — he wants to be in the mix. He names himself general manager. He inserts himself into football decisions. He makes trades. He controls the brand image. He dabbles in the locker room. He even steps into press conferences meant for his coaches and players.

At first glance, that passion looks like leadership. But over time, it becomes a lid. It stifles growth. The front office has no room to lead because the family is already filling that role. Decisions get made out of impulse or emotion rather than professional judgment. Coaches, scouts, and executives often find themselves carrying out orders they know won’t work — and then paying for those mistakes with their jobs.

In business, Jerry Jones owners show up everywhere. They’re the ones who call every shot — not just the big ones, but the smallest details too. They dictate every color choice on a website. They second-guess a designer’s font. They rearrange a marketing plan because “that’s how they’ve always done it.” Their fingerprints are on everything, whether or not they understand it.

Now — let me be clear — that’s not inherently wrong. Jerry Jones and his family earned the right to run the Cowboys however they want. And small business owners who built their company with their own two hands have every right to be deeply involved. But here’s the catch: that style requires employees and partners who are content following orders, executing tasks, and keeping their opinions to themselves. If you want leaders in your organization, if you want true growth, that approach will eventually collide with reality.

The Shahid Khan Owner

On the other end of the spectrum, you have owners like Shahid Khan of the Jacksonville Jaguars, or Terry Pegula of the Buffalo Bills.

These owners are far more hands-off. They don’t pretend to be general managers. They don’t claim to understand football strategy. They don’t interfere with draft picks, lineups, or locker room dynamics. Instead, they focus on the bigger picture: building a sustainable, profitable franchise, investing in the community, and putting the right professionals in place to run the football side of things.

When the team wins, they celebrate. When the team loses, they don’t step into the coach’s press conference to rewrite the message. They see themselves as investors, as custodians of the brand, as people who enjoy the game — not as the ones who are the game.

And just like Jerry Jones has his business owner counterparts, so do Khan and Pegula. These are the owners who trust the professionals they’ve hired. They give input where it matters. They focus on strategy and culture, not on micromanaging execution. They understand their value lies in vision, leadership, and relationships — not in choosing the color of a button on a website.

Where Do You Fall?

This is the question I pose to every client I work with: Are you Jerry Jones or Shahid Khan?

Because the Jerry Jones types, while passionate and capable, often become their own roadblocks. They slow down projects. They burn out teams. They create bottlenecks in decision-making. And worst of all, they make professionals spend more time defending their expertise than actually using it.

Take a website build as an example. A Jerry Jones owner will want to debate every pixel. Every shade of color. Every scroll function. Every layout decision. Meanwhile, the professionals — people with years of training, education, and experience — are stuck explaining minutiae that should have been trusted to them in the first place.

It wastes time. It wastes money. And when the owner insists on their way, even if it’s not the right way, the blame almost never falls on them. It falls on the professionals. Frustration builds, the partnership sours, and the cycle repeats itself with the next vendor.

Contrast that with a Shahid Khan owner. They don’t vanish completely — they still give input, still approve major decisions, still serve as a sounding board — but they let professionals handle the craft. They respect expertise. They measure results instead of micromanaging process. And because of that, their businesses often grow faster, healthier, and stronger.

The Real Point

Here’s the truth: success in business rarely comes down to what you think will work. It comes down to who you trust to make it work.

If you surround yourself with people you don’t trust, you’ll feel compelled to micromanage every detail. If you surround yourself with true professionals — and then give them the space to do what they do best — you’ll unlock growth you never thought possible.

As an owner, your job isn’t to control every function. Your job is to build culture. To cast vision. To create relationships. To steer the ship, not tighten every bolt in the engine room.

Where Bahlr Fits In

Working with Bahlr is not something you should avoid because you want to be involved. In fact, we want you involved. We value your input. We want your perspective. We want your expertise in the areas only you know best — like your customers, your market, your history.

But here’s the key: the involvement has to be balanced. We want to earn your trust so you can confidently sign off on the big initiatives we bring to the table, knowing the details are handled by professionals. We want you to act as a sounding board, not a roadblock. We want you to guide us where you can, and let us lead where we’re built to lead.
That’s the relationship. That’s the partnership.

So ask yourself: are you Jerry Jones, or are you Shahid Khan?