Replace Yourself
REPLACING THE IRREPLACEABLE YOU
Replace you? Impossible! After all, your company is your baby… you’ve grown and nurtured it; you know where your company has been and you’ve been there with it every step of the way! How can anyone else do what you do with the same level of passion, and do it well? Sigh. What we’re talking about here isn’t necessarily how to walk away from your business – although you could, if you follow through. What we’re talking about is how to take on a mindset where you can step out of doing it all, grow your team, replace yourself, and be the leader you need to be in order to have the freedom to grow your business, retire, or have a life! Think about it:
If you do it all, you have to know everything there is to know about what you are doing and where you are going… how can you find out what you don’t know?
If you do it all, where do you get to rest?
If you do it all, how can you take on whatever is necessary to move on to what’s next for you and your business?
Often we get so caught up in doing what we think a leader should do that we forget what a leader is supposed to be! We work-work-work; we keep our thumbs on the pulse of everything; we keep our nose to the grindstone in order to keep the machinery that is our company going, but we forget to be the visionary we are required to be. We forget to be a teacher; we forget to be a listener; we forget to be a planner; we forget to be our purpose; we become so focused on doing what we do, that we fail to be an effective leader!
We get caught in a trap that has us doing all of the thinking, decision-making, worrying, and working, and because we are only human and there are just 24 hours in a day, we become the limit to that which can be accomplished. So are you ready to get out of your own way?
GROWING YOUR REPLACEMENT
Molding your replacement is an ongoing process. Yes, it takes time. Yes, it takes commitment. Yes, it takes an unstoppable mindset in order to keep the old feeling of, “I can get this done faster if I do it myself just this one time” out of the way. To grow your replacement(s) into phenomenal leaders and not stymie your or anyone else’s growth, you have to:
Have a plan! Without a written plan, you don’t know where you are going and you have nothing to teach your team from. Think about it: If you don’t have a clear plan for who is responsible for what, how can your team, your replacement(s), be clear about where they are going and what they are responsible for accomplishing and by when they are to accomplish it?
Stay out of the way! You have to give up being a control monster, and allow your team to put your vision/plan in action. When you “hover” over your team it sends the message that, “It’s my way or the highway”, and that you don’t trust them! Both of which are opposite of what you want your growing replacement(s) to learn! Your team members learn the most when you allow them to stand on their own two feet and learn, not only from the team member’s successes, but also from their mistakes. As leaders, “letting go” may be a challenging thing to do, and just so I’m clear, I’m not telling you to allow your replacement to jump without his or her parachute packed correctly. What I am telling you is that, as a leader, you have to teach your team, provide the team members with all of the tools they need to be successful, remain accessible and open for questions, be the question instead of the answer, and teach others how to forgive by being forgiving.
Be the visionary you are paid to be, and allow your team to contribute to the team and to you. You’ve got to trust the training and instincts that you are building in your team.
Listen to what your team members have to say and be open to learning and doing things a new (and possibly even better) way. Once you give your growing leaders a voice, you need to treat it with respect.
Be your word. This one speaks for itself. If you want to build a team with integrity, you’ve got to be integrity. It is that simple!
Do not make your team members wrong if they make a mistake. Ask them, “What is a better way to do it next time?”
MOVING ON TO WHAT’S NEXT
What’s next for you is really about increasing your leadership skills, taking off your doing-cap, and providing your business and your team with clear vision, direction, and accountability! Standing there, absolutely anything is possible if you want and plan for it enough! So while replacing you can be a scary thing, just imagine:
Having a team empowered to accomplish your vision
Your team thinking not just in terms of checking off tasks from a list, but in terms of asking, “How can we do this better and more efficiently? How can I contribute to the success of the company?"
Your business working without you having to be there
Having time for yourself and your family (Oh, gosh! Then what would you do with that time?)
Being the visionary, the creator of new ideas and goals, rather than doing all of the work
Just imagine what you, your company, and your team can accomplish with that kind of power, clarity, and teamwork behind it!