The biggest challenge of a business owner is not having the business dependent on them. There are many reasons why it is. One is the belief that they cannot depend on others to make the right decisions.
For a business to scale, the owner must work continuously to remove themselves from the company’s work, and that includes the management of everyone. Consider an organizational structure in which your people work with managers and a handful or less report directly to the acting position you hold as CEO, President, etc. I call it an acting position so that you have the freedom to replace yourself in that position in the future. A business not dependent on the owner is far more valuable than one that is.
The first step is a written clearly defined the strategic objective (your vision) for the business in three or five years. This vision shows leadership and gives the business and your people a purpose.
Once you have your business objective, you can determine the structure your business needs to operate successfully in three to five years without being dependent on you. Isn’t that your goal, to decide your involvement with the company (freedom)?
Once you have managers in place, develop them to become the leaders and managers, your business needs them to be. Give them the tools and mentoring they need to be successful.
Being a leader is different from being a manager. Some are more inclined to be managers. They are skilled at organizing the work, developing structure and systems for that work to be done, producing results, holding people accountable, and mentoring them to feel supported.
Some managers are leaders. You know who they are. They are the people who not only share your vision but also have a vision for their department. They are forward-thinking, have strategies to help achieve your strategic objective. Leaders inspire their people to follow their lead, be the best they can be, and work with them to achieve something. A leader helps their people see their work is not a job but rather their contribution to their department’s success and its contribution to the business’s success as a whole.
You are a leader in this same way. Developing great managers gives you the assurance that you can let go and assign responsibility and authority to them. Developing those who want to become leaders gives you the ability to create strategies for scaling the business and building a culture for everyone to succeed.
For all this to happen, a business owner imagines and builds a successful business that does not depend on them.
(Watch for a blog on how to create your strategic objective and an organizational strategy if you do not have them well established in your business already.)