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If the Shoe Fits: Prequel to How to Delegate

Friday, August 12th, 2016

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

5726760809_bf0bf0f558_mI constantly field question from founders about delegating, which actually means ‘how do I let go’?

But before tackling that question, there is a more fundamental question that you need to think through first.

There is no right answer to the question, because the answer rests on a psychological difference between entrepreneurs that has nothing to do with investment, revenue or even number of employees.

  • It’s the ability to trust others and not believing that you know best.
  • It’s the difference between making yourself central to every action and decision within the company or taking time to hire well, delegate and then get out of the way, so people can do their jobs.
  • It’s the difference between being self-employed — even if you have 80 employees and $50 M revenue — and creating a self-sustaining entity that will keep going without you.
  • Simply put, it’s the difference between holding on and letting go.

The way you choose is by being ruthlessly honest with yourself about how best you function; not how other people think you should function.

And if you don’t like your choice then change it by changing your MAP.

Image credit: HikingArtist

If the Shoe Fits: Leadership

Friday, February 15th, 2013

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read allIf the Shoe Fits posts here

5726760809_bf0bf0f558_mI rarely mention ‘leadership’, because I believe that given the opportunity to act anyone can and will step up and lead when the time and cause is right.

That’s why I when I coach one of the mantras I offer is “leadership is like manure, it produces the best results when spread around.”

You wouldn’t think founders today would even consider any kind of old world hierarchical management, but they do.

Not overtly, but covertly—and often unconsciously.

It shows in their unwillingness (fear?) to delegate the authority to make decisions along with the responsibility of doing the work.

But there are major advantages to spreading leadership opportunities at every level in your organization.

Foremost is the fact that if you want to hire these days you need to offer your workers meaningful opportunities to grow or they’ll walk.

Growing includes leading and managing—even if it’s only a group of one, themselves.

It means pushing responsibility further and further down in your organization—not just the responsibility—but the authority required to accomplish whatever it is.

And that’s where most founders (and bosses) blow it.

They assign the task, but then require their people to keep running to them for permission to do each step.

I’m not saying to hand over total control, but you need to hand over enough authority to get the job done.

Even when it comes to money, which is often the biggest hang-up, you can still do it.

Create a budget for each task and give the responsibility for spending it to the person responsible for getting it done. Let her decide how to spend it without interference or “help” from you—unless she asks.

If she goes over budget don’t freak out. It’s not that much (or shouldn’t be) in the big picture and if you freak she may never recover.

She already knows that she messed up, so beating on her will accomplish nothing. Sit down calmly and let her walk you through the thinking and decision-making that led to being over budget, discuss it and lead her through a pattern that would have succeeded.

But if it turns out that the error is yours and the estimate was wrong, admit it, don’t try and convince her that someone else could have done it.

People aren’t stupid, she’ll know that the discussion ended as a CYA function for you—as will everyone, since stuff like this never stays secret.

Other great reasons to spread leadership around are increased productivity, more employee satisfaction, fewer logjams when you’re unavailable or traveling, easier staffing and less turnover.

Finally, spread it around because that’s what great founders do—they pay it forward by fostering the growth of more entrepreneurs.

Image credit: HikingArtist

If the Shoe Fits: the True Value of Power

Friday, February 8th, 2013

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all ‘If the Shoe Fits’ posts here

5726760809_bf0bf0f558_mHow did John Landgraf, president and general manager of FX Networks, turn the channel from an also-ran to top ratings earner?

Not the way you might think; not by his vision or impeccable taste; not by having his finger on the pulse of the public or because he can see around corners.

He did it by not doing it.

Landgraf spent time on the creative side and when pitching/producing he kept hearing the same thing.

“I always got the same dumb note from the networks. ‘Can you make the character more likable?’ ” he recalled last week in a phone interview. “Not make them more exciting, more compelling, more interesting, no, it was always make them more likable.”

When he got the FX catbird seat he didn’t ask for ‘nicer’ he asked for solid stories.

In other words, he did it by letting go of the power to make those decisions.

“We write a check to fund the production and they send us the shows. By trusting the people you work with — sharing the authority — and being willing to fail, things have gone pretty well for us.”

This is something that every entrepreneur needs to learn.

Success comes not from having the power to make decisions, but from the ability to give that power to others.

 “Power is only of value if you give it away. You have to be willing to give it away, to entrust your career, your reputation and your future to others, to make something that is remarkable.”

Image credit: HikingArtist

Ducks in a Row: Drug Your Team with Oxytocin

Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OxytocinWhether your team is virtual or on-site drugging them with oxytocin will keep productivity humming, drive innovation, boost retention and put your organization on the ‘best places to work’ list.

The upside of oxytocin is that it’s totally legal; the downside is that it’s directly tied to your management/leadership skills.

“Whether it’s online or in an office, the leader’s role is to empower individuals to be more successful,” says Paul Zak, a professor of economics and director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, Calif. “If you keep making me successful, I’ll want to keep working for you.”

That’s because oxytocin is a neurochemical produced by the brain in response to certain stimuli that bosses like Tony Hsieh are experts at keeping it flowing.

The economist’s studies tell him that oxytocin is produced in high-performing workplaces. “The classic way to get people to do what you want is fear, but people acclimate to that,” he says. “If you want to keep people on task all the time, you want oxytocin-producing situations.”

Increasing oxytocin is a byproduct of the traits and actions evangelized by management, leadership and corporate culture experts not to mention 110% of the general workforce.

The leadership traits he has identified to produce this include praise, given unexpectedly and in public; transparency in identifying tasks and setting goals; authenticity; effective delegation of work; empathy to others’ situations; anticipation of challenges; and autonomy.

Not exactly rocket science; in fact, you need to be from another planet not to have heard of the value of these traits.

If you don’t already, start practicing them; if you do practice them look for ways to increase/enhance your actions.

Be the drug dealer your people will love.

Wikimedia image credit: Edgar181

The Difference between Holding On and Letting Go

Monday, September 20th, 2010

difference

Saturday I said, “It’s innovation, no matter where it’s done, and MAP that drives jobs,” and that I would expand on MAP’s role today.

Ask people what an entrepreneur does and their description will usually say something about starting a company.

But there is a critical psychological difference between entrepreneurs that has nothing to do with investment, revenue or even employees.

  • It’s the difference between creating a company and being self-employed—even if you have 50 employees and $50 M revenue.
  • It’s the difference between trusting others and what those in the startup world call founder ego—the belief that you can do any job better than anyone you hire.
  • It’s the difference between making yourself central to every action and decision within the company or hiring well, delegating and then getting out of the way, so people can do their jobs.
  • Simply put, it’s the difference between holding on and letting go.

And it is that difference that often decides not just the company’s success, but whether the founder sticks around or leaves—willingly or with help from the board/investors.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/helga/3436664563/

Delegate, Don’t Abdicate

Friday, March 12th, 2010

delegate-not-abdicateThere is no dearth of information available and that is especially true when you are looking to improve your management skills.

My cyber buddy Elliot Ross writes an excellent blog about tech for tech challenged SMB managers.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote Self-starter Does Not Mean Self-managed and Elliot used it to discuss the same problem in IT.

In his post he hits the bull’s-eye with a phrase that any manager at any level in any size company would be wise to tattoo on their frontal lobe.

There is a big difference between delegating your IT services, and abdicating them.

Substitute whatever your group does for ‘IT services’ and you have one of the best and most succinct pieces of management advice I’ve ever seen.

But knowing it is not the same as applying it—every time for every person in every situation.

Image credit: Warning Sign Generator

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