When you started your company, you probably wore many hats – too many actually – and so you worked long hours every day of the week, missed a lot of soccer games, and maybe even a birthday party or two.
It was necessary, probably even fun at first. After all, you were building your business, perhaps fulfilling a lifelong dream. But after a while, the job demands became more than one person could handle. As your company grew, you reached capacity for both time and energy. Your company hit a ceiling, and you were burned out.
Enter EOS®’s Delegate and Elevate, one of the Five Leadership Abilities that you must master if you are going to break through the ceiling. The only way your company can grow is for you, as a leader, to build extensions of yourself and let go of some responsibilities. And you can have a better work-life balance.
Delegate and Elevate allows your business to break through the ceiling because each member of your leadership team is doing exactly what they are best at. It’s not up to one person (you) to get it all done.
Not as Easy as it Sounds
Delegate and Elevate makes total sense logically and on paper, and you can see its impact in the productivity and efficiency of your company. But it’s not without a little pain on your part. It requires you to let go.
Your company is growing, and now you wear fewer hats. You have a better work-life balance and your business is flourishing. But deep down there may well be a part of you that misses “the old days.” Misses the hectic pace. Misses being an integral part of every part of your organization, from establishing strategy, to writing the marketing plan, to fixing the computer problems, to closing the next big sale, to participating in every company decision.
Having the right people in the right seats creates an opportunity for you to delegate the hat that is not in your sweet spot to someone for whom the hat is a perfect fit – so you can elevate yourself to focus on those skills at which you excel.
It may feel scary to know your team is out-doing what you used to do and without your direct involvement. Perhaps your marketing director just delivered a company presentation at a business event that brought the audience to their feet. Your marketing director and his team discovered the opportunity, created the presentation, and took care of all the details necessary to deliver a great event. You knew this was going on, of course, but that was your only involvement.
This happened because you ensured your marketing director understood the company vision, fit your company’s culture, was engaged in everything he did, and was fully prepared to represent your company.
One of the most difficult parts of being a business owner is learning when and how to let go. To loosen the reigns, and rely on others to excel in their talents. You know it’s for the best, but it can be a little bitter sweet at times.
Stay strong and keep the end in mind. Enjoy the success you and your team have worked hard to achieve every day. And be proud that you have hired, trained and retained a strong leadership team who has synergy, believes in your Core Values and GWC’s their role.
Do you need help delegating and elevating? If so, contact us. We can help.
About EOS®
EOS® is a holistic management system with simple tools that help you do three things we call vision, traction, healthy. Vision from the standpoint of first getting your leaders 100% on the same page with where your organization is going. Traction from the standpoint of helping your leaders to become more disciplined and accountable, executing really well to achieve every part of your vision. Healthy meaning helping your leaders to become a healthy, functional, cohesive leadership team.
