I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It’s a myth that “no one will ever care as much as I do.” And it’s a lie that “no one else can do it as well as me.”
Business owners (especially contractors stuck in owner-operator grind mode) say this like it’s objective truth. But it’s not.
Sometimes it’s fear. Sometimes it’s ego. But all the time, it’s you putting a ceiling on your business.
We planned to launch our new website later this year, because we have evolved like crazy as a business since I threw our current site together a few years ago.
Our goal was to launch our new site in October. But this morning, I woke up to a complete redesign, done over the weekend, unprompted.
Why? Because my fulfillment manager is bought in. She’s not an owner, but she cares like one, hustles like one, executes like one, and raises the bar like one.
Here’s why:
1. I hired someone who was ALREADY living out our core values in her personal & professional life. She lived & breathed 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐒:
𝐑aise the standard
𝐎utwork bad days
𝐎pportunity mindset
𝐓ake extreme ownership
𝐒implify & systematize
Because of that, hiring her was on the easiest decisions I’ve made in my business journey to date.
2. I showed her how our company’s growth directly supports her career growth AND her family.
As the business grows and thrives, so does she. So does her family. She’s not working “for” me. She’s working WITH me. For our clients, for our industry, for her own fulfillment, and for her family.
3. I trained her & then I trusted her. She is empowered in her role. I do my best to equip, support, and develop her in her role (but let’s be real, she develops ME as much as I develop her, if not more). But one thing I refuse to do is micromanage her.
Contractors:
You will stay stuck in grind mode until you stop believing the lie that you’re the only one who can do it right. Until you realize that your greatest contribution to the business is not:
Picking up materials. Building or installing xyz. Managing crews. Or even closing deals.
If that’s your view point, you’ll always be needed everywhere… from the kitchen table where the deal is closed to the office where the crews are scheduled to the job site where the project comes to life.
Your greatest contributions to the business are your mission and vision, your core values and standards, your systems, and your ability to grow and empower a team.
When you build the right culture, people will rise to meet it. When you cast the right vision, people will run with it. When you install the right systems, people will work effectively and efficiently.
But if you refuse to ever let go of control… You’re not leading a business. You’re babysitting a 24/7 job you built for yourself, with a team member or two that you are likely either underutilizing or burning out, and sometimes, both.
If that’s what you want, that’s fine, but admit it and accept it. The things is, there are too many contractors out there who want MORE than that, yet keep themselves stuck because they never learn to relinquish control and build a team of all-stars. Don’t let that be you.
If you’re tired of being the bottleneck in your business…
If you want team members who lead themselves, take ownership, and raise the bar…
If you’re ready to stop doing everything yourself and start building the kind of business that runs without your constant involvement…
We can help you install the sales systems, hiring playbooks, and culture strategies that make that possible.
Shoot us a message here — and let’s talk about what it’ll take to build a team that thinks and executes like owners, even if they aren’t one.
