When support becomes a crutch

I am a huge proponent of hiring those who are simply “better” at certain tasks than me...and often encourage my clients to do the same. Case in point? I could run 100% of my business on my own. But not very well. As it stands, I have a bookkeeper, a business advisor, an accountability partner, a designer, a coach, a lawyer, and I’ll confess, my husband is my Chief Marketing Officer (the pay’s lousy but the executive retreats are lovely). I will be hiring a PR consultant, a web integrator, and a couple of other pros to help me continue to build my business and support my marketing efforts. Why in the world does a Coach and Program Facilitator need all of those people? Because I’m very good at what I do but NOT at what I don’t do.  Nothing ground-breaking there.

Don’t get me wrong, I WISH I was more capable in the realms of social marketing, IP and accounting (ok, not really accounting). I was heartened when a colleague reminded me that the only reason I get hundreds of tweets a day by genius social marketers selling their “how-to reach your customers through twitter” tutorials is due to that fact that few really get how it all works (or so I keep telling myself). Cross that one off my list of things to feel badly about.

Here’s the challenge. While I have the muscles to do many of the tasks described above, they’re undeveloped and weak. So I lean on those who are strong in those areas. But by leaning on them too heavily, I’m not only NOT developing those muscles, but I’m actually sensing that they’re turning into flab. This means that I’m not as limber as I’d like…even in the areas where I feel most competent. When I have a brainwave these days, I feel a need to run it through my team…eliminating much of the spontaneity that has served me so well.

Ultimately, this smacks of an organizational challenge that I was bound to face any given day now. The balance is getting out of whack…and I don’t care for it one bit.

Now that the challenge has been identified here are some solutions for me to consider:

  • Remember why I’ve surrounded myself with my team of excellence;

  • Let them do what they do best, freeing me up to do my very best;

  • Continue to make decisions based on trusting my instincts and information provided by the experts;

  • Pick areas in my business that I’d like to understand better and build those muscles by asking the experts to tutor me and relinquish all areas that do not interest me (poor accounting); and,

  • Make mistakes frequently and learn from them.

I’m feeling stronger already.

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Tanya