Last week we talked about business growth and how to approach it in a manner that makes the most sense for you. This week, let’s focus on the importance of delegation in your growth plan. As your business expands, creating a sustainable, healthy organizational culture depends on your ability to delegate, and that can be pretty tough for entrepreneurs.
Think back to when you started out (or to earlier today). We have a tendency as entrepreneurs to take on every task. It’s what we know, it’s what we do, and, in many cases, it’s part of how we measure ourselves. It can feel good to be non-stop busy (but take note, I didn’t say that it’s healthy or productive).
Have you ever fallen into that pattern of doing it all yourself? I know I have. It’s so easy to start measuring your worth by the number of completed tasks in the day or by how much money you saved by doing things like your taxes on your own -- no matter how many countless hours it took to get it done.
So, how do you break free?
Breaking free of this unsustainable pattern requires that you re-examine how you value your time. Finishing up a short-term task feels good because you’re able to take something off your list. But, was that the best thing to spend your time on? Is there a better long-term use of your time?
Let’s dig deeper and look at a real life situation.
Building B.O.S.S. Consulting from the ground up has been my mission and my passion. So how did I approach it? (I bet you can see where this is going…) I did absolutely everything I could. And then some.
I covered duties as my very own IT Department, web developer, social media manager, sales manager, program developer, and janitor. Somewhere in there, I moved to a new house. I even built my own desk.
You get the picture. It wasn’t the most sustainable of situations.
How could I go out into the world to help people with delegation, team building, and surviving the stresses of leadership? I took a step back and then I did the work. I looked at my business as if I hired myself, did some long-term planning, worked on capacity building, and figured out how to delegate. I freed myself up to be what I needed to be for the benefit of B.O.S.S. Consulting’s growth. I needed to be the owner.
Making a change like that can be scary. And it was. Taking myself out of that pattern wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. Now, because I delegated many of those responsibilities, I have the time, bandwidth, and capacity to take on long-term, large-scale challenges with more vigor. That ultimately leads to higher quality results and a lot less stress.
So here’s a thank you to all of those who helped me be free enough to build B.O.S.S. Consulting. We’ve grown as a team, and I couldn’t do this without your help.
Harold: Your marketing and web skills are crazy good
Judi: You make the numbers make sense
Brittany: You make me sound like the best possible version of myself
Chris: You keep all of the web magic happening in the background
Kirk: Your solid web hosting makes it all work
Pat: You’ve freed me up from my maintenance and creative building projects
Bob: You’re a Tax Ninja
Todd: You’re the insurance connoisseur
Abigail: You’re the keeper of the laws
Linda: You’re the best advisor and partner I could have ever hoped to have
What are you ready to give up in order to have more success? Not sure what could help you move forward? Let’s set up a time to talk!