It was a strange and unexpected awakening. And something I wish I’d learnt a lot earlier!
I love Sundays and I was sleeping in after a long week when something snapped me awake, as if some strong hand reached down and pulled me toward the light.
Let me give you some background. I used to own a cocktail bar and I was a pretty intense boss – a control freak convinced that no one could do a better job than me. In some ways that was true- I had been working in bars since I was 18 and had nearly 20 years experience working at some of the best bars in the world. I was extremely confident in my job and I took great pride in the way that I did it.
This attitude also got results. The bar was successful, it had won numerous awards and as a result I only hired the best people. It was a great bar.
Yet for all of that I was still working 80-hour weeks and only just getting by financially. There was always someone or something I could blame, so it took me a long time to figure out that I was actually my biggest problem.
Like most bartenders I was a glory hog. My default style of management was to take tasks away from my team, rather than empowering them to do a great job without me. When they messed up I would resign myself to my falsely held truth – you just can’t find good staff!
Sound familiar?
Then it all started to fall apart. A couple of great guys quit because they couldn’t stand my management style. I’m fortunate that one of them cared enough to tell me, and I’m grateful I had the humility to take it on board.
Once I gave my team more responsibility a funny thing started to happen. They responded to my trust and really started taking the tasks on board. They were so enthusiastic that they started to come up with their own ideas on how we might improve things. And for the first time I was actually open to receive them. The tide of control had turned and I gained a very helpful insight…
It’s not hard to find great staff, it’s to find great bosses.
Basically we are talking about becoming a leader in your business, not just an owner or a manager. And this change in approach is a two-step process.
The first step is to cut the criticism. Very few people actually work harder when you criticize everything they do. Most people try their best for a while and then settle into average performance. They know that you’ll never appreciate their best efforts so there’s no incentive to be better. Instead, set up clear performance guidelines so that everyone knows what success and failure look like, take the time to support your team and then give them the freedom to find their own way to the goal.
The second step is to pounce on the positive. Actively look for opportunities to praise your team celebrate their success. There is a reason that sporting teams celebrate each time they score (and it’s not because they like group hugs). When you celebrate your victories you reinforce the behaviour that created that result.
Before this I’d never really thought about leadership. It always seemed to relate to people greater than me – sporting heroes, politicians, captains of industry. But that morning I realized that it relates to all of us. There is always an opportunity for each of us to be leaders in our life. As a small business owner it definitely relates to how we choose to lead our team. Once I gave my team clear goals and actively celebrated their efforts they blossomed in the light of my recognition and praise. Without really trying I moved from manager to leader and my team moved from good to great.
Small shifts in thinking can lead to big shifts in results. For me, this was one of those small shifts. And the result was the difference between working 80 hours a week and just getting by, to working 30 hours a week and getting rich.
So if you’re a small business owner then hopefully this simple idea can help move you from stuck to inspired, it can help you take your business to the next level and it can finally allow you to claim back your life.
I love Sundays and I was sleeping in after a long week when something snapped me awake, as if some strong hand reached down and pulled me toward the light.
Let me give you some background. I used to own a cocktail bar and I was a pretty intense boss – a control freak convinced that no one could do a better job than me. In some ways that was true- I had been working in bars since I was 18 and had nearly 20 years experience working at some of the best bars in the world. I was extremely confident in my job and I took great pride in the way that I did it.
This attitude also got results. The bar was successful, it had won numerous awards and as a result I only hired the best people. It was a great bar.
Yet for all of that I was still working 80-hour weeks and only just getting by financially. There was always someone or something I could blame, so it took me a long time to figure out that I was actually my biggest problem.
Like most bartenders I was a glory hog. My default style of management was to take tasks away from my team, rather than empowering them to do a great job without me. When they messed up I would resign myself to my falsely held truth – you just can’t find good staff!
Sound familiar?
Then it all started to fall apart. A couple of great guys quit because they couldn’t stand my management style. I’m fortunate that one of them cared enough to tell me, and I’m grateful I had the humility to take it on board.
Once I gave my team more responsibility a funny thing started to happen. They responded to my trust and really started taking the tasks on board. They were so enthusiastic that they started to come up with their own ideas on how we might improve things. And for the first time I was actually open to receive them. The tide of control had turned and I gained a very helpful insight…
It’s not hard to find great staff, it’s to find great bosses.
Basically we are talking about becoming a leader in your business, not just an owner or a manager. And this change in approach is a two-step process.
The first step is to cut the criticism. Very few people actually work harder when you criticize everything they do. Most people try their best for a while and then settle into average performance. They know that you’ll never appreciate their best efforts so there’s no incentive to be better. Instead, set up clear performance guidelines so that everyone knows what success and failure look like, take the time to support your team and then give them the freedom to find their own way to the goal.
The second step is to pounce on the positive. Actively look for opportunities to praise your team celebrate their success. There is a reason that sporting teams celebrate each time they score (and it’s not because they like group hugs). When you celebrate your victories you reinforce the behaviour that created that result.
Before this I’d never really thought about leadership. It always seemed to relate to people greater than me – sporting heroes, politicians, captains of industry. But that morning I realized that it relates to all of us. There is always an opportunity for each of us to be leaders in our life. As a small business owner it definitely relates to how we choose to lead our team. Once I gave my team clear goals and actively celebrated their efforts they blossomed in the light of my recognition and praise. Without really trying I moved from manager to leader and my team moved from good to great.
Small shifts in thinking can lead to big shifts in results. For me, this was one of those small shifts. And the result was the difference between working 80 hours a week and just getting by, to working 30 hours a week and getting rich.
So if you’re a small business owner then hopefully this simple idea can help move you from stuck to inspired, it can help you take your business to the next level and it can finally allow you to claim back your life.
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