If Your Business Can’t Run Without You, It Won’t Grow Beyond You

My long-time boss and mentor from another life always used to tell me:

The measure of your leadership strength is how well your department, business, or division runs once you are gone.

He knew me well. This perceived challenge was a battle cry. I was always looking to move up or over in the company and wouldn’t leave a string of embarrassing rag-tag departments behind me. I always saw this manipulation as a personal challenge when I was in the heat of things.

My mantra became:

Stronger when I left.

Although he often said this to push my buttons, I knew there was truth in it. Creating teams and businesses that could run without me freed me up to take advantage of other opportunities.

Strategy for Enhancing Your Leadership Skills

Most importantly, it was the most effective strategy for successful business growth and enhancing my leadership skills.

For my projects and teams to succeed and run without me, I had to:

• hire top talent with strong technical skills.
• create a diverse team that compliments each other to ensure no significant holes.
• delegate like crazy so that everything can be done without me.
• develop an open, learning, and innovative environment where people are not afraid to tell you if they have an issue or messed up.

And more importantly…

• Create checks and balance systems to ensure discrepancies are found without one boss micromanaging.
• Make sure that we have policies and procedures whereby the team can make most decisions independently because they know how things should work.

These leadership activities strengthened the team and made them more independent. And by the way, it enhanced their leadership skills, too.

Remember:

Stronger when you leave.

Most Small Businesses Close in the First 5 Years

As a small business owner creating a business that will beat the odds and survive and grow beyond its first five years, you must create a company that can run without you. Building this type of team is much more challenging when you are a small company.

I currently own a company with ten people, including myself and a couple of contract employees. When I ran a division of 400 employees, it was much easier to duplicate myself in different functional areas. I know most of you are in the same boat as I am, or closer to it than 400 employees.

Modifying the Strategy of Replacing Yourself for Small Business

My strategy was successful in the big corporate business and, in theory, is very relevant. However, the execution has to look a little different. A few fundamental changes I have made over the years:

• Timing: I can’t afford the personnel to do everything I can do in the company all at the same time.
• Phases: Since most small business owners wear various hats, determine which hat you want to hand off first, then second, and so on.
• Talent: Hire talent that the first hat fits even better than it fits you. They should be able to execute and lead in that area better than you can. We started in marketing and have built a whole team with the talent I need to produce our clients’ marketing.
• Hand Off Fully: You must delegate responsibility and authority, not just tasks. But remember that you are still responsible for training, equipping, and setting the team up for success without you.

Can Your Business Survive Without You For A Week?

How would your business do if you stepped away for one day? Could you step away for a week? Can it run without you? Why not?

Make a list of the various hats you currently wear. Which one does it make sense for you to hand off first? What can you do over the next six months to equip this area to run itself without you?

By building a business that thrives without you, you create a more sustainable and scalable operation and free yourself to focus on growth and innovation. Contact us for personalized coaching and support if you’re ready to take your business to the next level.