Get Out the Way

I've been told, the minute I start doing someone else’s job, the minute they leave. My experience is that when I do someone else’s job, I rob them of the opportunity to excel. And when people aren’t excelling, it's only a matter of time before they're out the door for one reason or another.

I bring this up because of how powerful this realization has been for me. I'm very hands on, and I regularly go out of my way to "help" people that I work with. The key distinction is that while I think I'm helping someone, I'm really just doing their job. When I do that, I not only keep them from growing into the role they've been hired to do, but also limit the amount of time I can spend doing my own role. This is a pretty common mistake that entrepreneurs make. I think most entrepreneurs don't even realize they do this, and more importantly, they have no idea it is this exact behavior that limits the growth of their businesses. That's the irony of it. We think we’re doing our company well by working harder and harder to do another’s job, but we’re doing just the opposite. After all, if I don’t focus on steering the ship, who will?

I know this because I used to do it. Of course, old habits don't die easily, but I've really been successful with in this area and I surround myself with people who remind me that my role is CEO, and that my role is not their role. So like the title of this post says... "Get Out The Way"!