How Selfish are you? Be more selfish and lead through others.
Yes you?
Are you that person who is always conscious of being at the front? leading the business? setting the example? solving everyones problems? making sure everyone and everything is being done? and at time doing when it is not?
That person who believes that this all comes before anything else as it is their own business and it just needs doing. that person who takes on all the work for the success of the business.
If this sounds familiar let me suggest that whilst it feels like the right thing to do, there will be a time when your business and you are better served by just getting those around you to do their job. For you to assess the job that you should be doing and changing what you actually do. For you to be selfish and take time.....
When you step into the role of MD, or when your business reaches a change in growth, and I hear this from a lot of my clients, there is no job description, no task list and no time to stop and think about the future as everything needs sorting out. This may be true in parts, but there needs to be a couple of things in place:
Firstly, letting people deliver. Whilst you are friend of the office and want to sit with the people, whilst you want to be seen to be approachable and help solve problems, what you are actually doing is retaining control. Those around will be conscious of you being the boss and may change how they behave whilst you are watching. Those whose problems you solve become dependent on you being there and you become dependent on being needed. Imagine how you'd feel if someone took away the opportunity for you to prove how good you are and what you could deliver. Selfish behaviour?
Secondly, Spend time to understand what is really happening in your business and align that to where you want your business to be. look at the gaps and work out what needs to be done to get there. then work out what is possible and most likely to get you there and focus on getting these things done. But not doing them yourself. I don't mean absolve yourself of responsibility, but I mean get those who are most able to deliver these things to do that as part of their accountability to you and your business.
Finally, take time for yourself. Be really selfish and indulgent, and I mean REALLY. It is very lonely being the leader. There is not another one in the business. It is just you. No-one to share things with. You don't always want to share your worries, concerns or frailties with those that work for you and you don't always want share at home, bridging that work home divide. But what you need to do is take time regularly to sit back and look, listen and importantly breathe. Thats far too indulgent? Not at all, that is the basic job of the leader of business. By doing this you can truly understand what needs doing and how to accelerate your business down the path you want to travel down. It is also better if you can have someone (or some people) to help you during this time. To challenge your thinking, ask those difficult questions, take you out of your comfort zone and make sure that you use that time wisely. That is the role of a good advisor - be it mentor, coach, colleague or critical friend..... One of the best pieces of feedback from the coaching and mentoring sessions we carry out is that "giving yourself permission to stop and having someone who is not emotionally involved to share these things with, makes a massive difference". Me time.
So whilst you may feel is indulgent and selfish to spend time on your own, time away from the business, it will always be worth it if done well.
If you need help making this work well, thats what I do. get in touch.
