Break Your Control Freak Habit and Catalyze Your Business

Whether we stepped up in responsibility over time spent in our profession or started our own business as an entrepreneur, we often think the business success requires keeping our own personal grip on the reins of all the activity. I say "we" because I know it myself - I've struggled to decide what I was willing to hand over to others. And Susan is facing that challenge right now. The thing is, as any business grows, the sheer volume and variety of things to be done outpaces what you (or I) can actually accomplish on our own. You have choices for how to handle it in your role as a business leader. You can hire people and train them and hand work over to them. Or you can outsource it to specialists with proven track records at handling the very stuff you're ready to delegate. Different decisions, useful at different points in a business's growth. She has to hire junior level folks and train them in the services her firm provides. That takes time. And it may take weeks or months for each new hire to demonstrate they can handle all the types of work that needs to be delivered to their particular clients. Along the way Susan runs into the same challenge over and over - to incrementally hand over the client relationship and all the work to the more 'junior' person who is becoming experienced in handling the client. Susan's bump in the road is that she forgets to step back to a leader's role of empowering her staff. So Susan's company is even more dependent upon her for all new work. The thing is, as any business grows, the sheer volume and variety of things to be done outpaces what you (or I) can actually accomplish on our own. If you try to run it all, you'll likely run the business itself into the ground. Why? Because, you'll take your eyes and mind off of the High Payoff activities that should have your time and attention.