Are you a Leader or a Firefighter?

Since I know all of my readers are going to make giant leaps in their business in 2010 I want to address some things about how you manage your staff and in some ways your clients.

One of the problems I have is that a client or one of the freelancers I hire comes to me with a problem or glitch my natural tendency is to jump right in and fix it. If you are a parent then you know the drill; it is so much quicker to tie the little darlings shoes as you rush out the door than to take the extra time to show them how one more time. The reality is that if you take that time to let them struggle you will save yourself much more time in the future.

As business owners, many of us are control freaks. When something happens with that little darling that is our business we all have the tendency to jump right in and just do it. The reality is that that attitude is going to limit your growth in the long run. In order to grow you have to let go and let others put out their own fires, or at least attempt to before you rush in to fix it. I know its hard, but just like the child with the untied shoe, if you give them a chance to do it on their own you not only free up your time but you empower them. Both of those are good things.

Your staff has to know that you trust them to handle situations as they arise. If you don’t , you need new staff. Yes I understand that there are situations where that isn’t the case but it is up to you to set those parameters. Once you have, you need to step back and let them figure out the solution on their own. Otherwise they are nothing more than a 911 switchboard with you the only responding firefighter.

Cory Miller wrote a nice article on Solving Your Own Problems With The 30 Minute Rule. This is a technique I use all the time with my clients. My website clients get great customer support and extensive tutorials, so I know they have the knowledge to handle most stuff that comes up. If it is an issue that I haven’t covered in their one on one then I go in and teach them how to handle it. After that, if they ping me with an issue we have covered, I’ll give them a half a day or so to try and solve it on their own. Please understand, that the sites my team builds are designed to be managed by the site owner. I give them the tools and support and then I have to let them learn the system. Some days it may take 5 or 6 emails back and forth to talk them through the solution to something that we could have easily done in about 5 minutes. Had I just fixed, I would be fixing it every time. By taking the time to let them struggle a little on their own first they 1) learn what they did wrong and either don’t do it again or know what to do if it happens and 2) they get this great sense of “Hey,I did that”

Whether you are thinking of your staff or of your clients, neither one is going to die if you give them some time to figure it out on their own. If you constantly step in a put out their fires you are tying up time that you could be doing more important things.

2010 is going to be busy. Your time will need to be spent on leadership not putting out every tiny fire that comes along. You can do it. Just grit your teeth and trust.

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