Published Monday, January 7, 2008
in Strategic eNews
Many entrepreneurial businesses with incredible growth potential are held back by one person: the entrepreneur. To reach the next level of results, entrepreneurs often need to add more team members, including someone to support them personally. Though they may sense this need, many are reluctant to take the leap. The fact is, they aren’t sold on the benefits. When you’ve come a long way without a personal assistant, hiring one may feel like a luxury — and there are always many other things to spend money on as your business grows.
A breakthrough becomes possible when you stop thinking of an assistant as an indulgence or a cost and start seeing that hire as an investment: a necessary investment in yourself.
Getting this type of support in your business is less about you personally and more about you as a talent and capability within the business that needs to be leveraged and nurtured.
Most entrepreneurs will readily invest in hiring new team members to support the various functions and departments in their business — accounting, marketing, operations, sales — yet they stop when it comes to supporting themselves. All these other systems are taken care of, but who keeps the creative tank full of gas by leveraging your time and talent?
Hiring the right person for this role can be a difficult and complex process that requires persistence. However, any successful entrepreneur who has built their “dream team” will testify to the enormous difference it makes when you succeed: With the minutia of day-to-day operations off your plate and other specialists taking care of tasks you don’t like and have no skill for, you’re free to focus on doing what you love to do and do best. Then the game changes dramatically, and what seemed like distant “someday” plans suddenly move within reach.
This process begins by asking:
Talent needs to be supported in order to grow, and it grows best in concert with other talents. In fact, the best and the brightest are usually the first to admit that they’re humbled by all the other things they lack skill at. Hiring someone with the capabilities to manage the tasks that drain your time and energy can have a major pay-off in terms of increased creativity, growth, and vision.
Investing in your abilities can ultimately lead you to make a great contribution — through your company, through the opportunities you create for people, and through the value you create in the world.