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Yep, it's true. The very attributes that make someone a good candidate to start a business often make it difficult for them to delegate responsibility and authority. And, as we all know, you can't scale up a business if you won't delegate.
Alas, this is the one of the top leadership challenges I see most often in scaling up a business.
Folks who start businesses tend to be intelligent and ambitious with a broad skill set. They know they're good at a lot of things, and that's why they're willing to take the risk involved in starting a new enterprise. They think, "Hey, that doesn't look so hard, I can do that!"
Great! At some point you have a going concern, and you have the startling realization that there are only 24 hours in every single day---and you can't get everything done that needs doing anymore.
You know you're good at most of the things that need doing, but you're nervous about handing over part of the care of your "baby" to someone else who may or may not do as good a job as you.
Options:
Work longer hours and destroy your health and personal life.
Don't scale up your business.
Make the highest and best use of your limited time by delegating responsibility and authority of lower priority tasks.
Assuming you choose Option 3, here are 5 best practices for successful delegation:
Hire people with the a) skills, and b) values you trust to delegate to.
Agree on clear, measurable goals.
Grant sufficient decision-making authority to achieve those goals.
Check in regularly to give a) praise, and b) mid-course corrections.
As long as they're getting results, let the delegatee do it their way, not yours.
Yes, delegation can be a nervous experience, but you don't really have another viable option if you want to scale up your business. So hire the right people, put them in the right roles that play to their strengths and passions, and delegate to them.
You'll be glad you did.
Don't be a stranger. (770) 993-1129. tdockery@TheResolveFirm.com
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