I hope that you have a mentor. I have been blessed to have a number of men in my life that have fulfilled this role for me. You can learn so much from mistakes and experience. You can also learn from the mistakes and experiences of others. I prefer the latter.
A couple of years ago I was having lunch with one of my mentors. This guy has been wildly successful. He owns numerous businesses. He has a great marriage – great family. Like my dad, he is someone I want to emulate. I was peppering him with questions. He told me a story that surprised me.
Years ago, he had somewhat plateaued in his businesses. He was working too much. Progress was not being made. He felt like he had hit a brick wall that he couldn’t break through. He had a conversation with a mentor of his and asked him what he was doing wrong. The mentor replied, “The problem with your businesses is you.”
Sobering statement. My mentor was initially angry. How could he be the problem? No one worked harder than him! He was the leader of these businesses.
I think that every entrepreneur reaches this point. Characteristics like passion, vision, integrity, hard work, and others are what lead to initial success. After a while though, the entrepreneur or leader of a business becomes the log-jam. Nothing gets done with his/her touch. John Maxwell calls this the Law of the Lid. The business cannot grow past the leadership ability of the leader. The entrepreneur ends up being his own biggest problem.
At this point, two options exist: enjoy the plateau or learn to replicate yourself in your business. In other words, learn to delegate.
I am going to assume that you chose the second option. The best organization at delegation and reproduction is the Marine Corps. The Marines regularly take 18-year-old kids and turn them into the best fighting force on the planet. While you might think that the Marine Corps has a very traditional hierarchical system, it is actually very decentralized. Twenty year old corporals on the front lines have the training and ability to make decisions on the fly. Here is how they do it.
Commander’s Intent
I want to acknowledge up front that the Military in general is not good at communicating the “why.” I rarely knew the big picture. I suggest that you run your business with the “why” constantly out in front of your team members.
That said, the commander’s intent is the “what.” This is the directive that comes from on high that says take that hill. The Commander does not come and tell anyone how to do. He simply gives the directive.
We recently built a database of all the Dollar Stores in Kentucky. I gave the directive to my executive assistant to find me the location, physical data, owner, and contact information on every store. She had the training and tools to accomplish this. She did not need me hawking and micro-managing.
Rules of Engagement
Remember in the movie Top Gun when Maverick and Goose were in the dog fight with the fictitious MIG-28 at the beginning of the movie? Their Commander kept telling them “Do not fire unless fired upon!” (You can see the cigar in his hand, can’t you?)
Rules of engagement tell you what you can and can’t do. This is where delegation really works. The best kinds of rules for a team member are the ones that explain what is not acceptable. In other words, if you can define the boundaries of what is not OK, then everything in that box is OK.
Now your team members have the “Commander’s Intent” or the task to accomplish, and they understand the boundaries. Within those boundaries, they are free to accomplish the task with great creativity and resourcefulness – and without you staring over their shoulder all the time.