Everyone is always focused on being more productive - doing more in less time. We're always on the go, go, go and barely have time to eat and sleep let alone relax and enjoy ourselves. Remember that one time last year when you took a vacation and enjoyed yourself? What happened when you got back to work? Were you more productive, organized, happier, stress-resistent, and satisfied? You very likely were. Imagine being able to feel more like that every day, not just when you're on vacation!
I read this really great article on LinkedIn the other day called "I'm so good that I'm replaceable..." by Rudolph Rosenberg. When I saw it I thought "YES! We need more articles like that!" We're always in such a huge hurry to do that we forget to be. Life isn't about doing more things - it's about being who we want to be (who we're supposed to be) with the people we want to be with. So how do we do that? Share the wealth! You don't have to do everything by yourself!
How often have you heard the phrase "team player" when looking at job descriptions or during interviews? All of the time. You probably have it in your company's job postings, as well! Companies want employees who will share their wealth of knowledge and help the entire team grow. Having only one person who does a part of the business operations solo is not scalable, causes a slowdown in processes, and can be detrimental when that person eventually leaves the company or perhaps even when they take a vacation. Executives and business owners are well aware of this fact. And yet they are often the single point of failure for systems in their own company without realizing it.
Who approves the hiring, firing, and check writing when you're away? Who helps manage all of the projects your company has going on? Who makes sure all of the marketing campaigns fire when they're supposed to? Hopefully you have an answer for all of these questions that isn't "me". If you don't, now is a good time to get one. Just like you don't want any customer left hanging when one of your employees goes away, you don't want any business operation stuck when you want to get a little R&R.
Stepping away from the daily tasks also allows you to become the company visionary you're supposed to be. Rather than being caught up in all of that doing, watch and listen to your team who's doing that work for you and see where improvements can be made. Creating more streamlined, efficient processes isn't only better for the bottom line, it's better for your employee satisfaction. Knowing that the leader of their company is watching them and trying to make their lives easier and better is a HUGE increase in the morale for your employees. And while your team is happily working to make your company successful, you can do what you really want to do with your time. Perhaps you want to focus solely on really getting to know your team and process improvement. Or maybe you want to come up with the company's direction and vision and inspire your team to see the same things. Whatever it is you decide to do with all of the time you're spending being rather than doing, your company will benefit greatly from it. Reach out to me to discuss where you may be able to spend more time being and less time doing.