As an entrepreneur, many times I have an attitude that says “If it’s to be, it’s up to me!”
That is a great attitude to get things started. In a world that waits for permission, that’s why entrepreneurs are able to start things. We are able to push through doubt and do the things that must be done in order to get our passion project off the ground. I have been able to do that because if it was to happen, I felt that I needed to be the person to do it.
But there is a downside to doing it all yourself.
First, if you build your entire business on the idea that you have to be the one to do it (if it’s going to be done right), then you are limited. There will be a time that you can’t continue to grow that way. You will run out of hours. Many entrepreneurs get stuck in this space because they can’t learn to delegate. If you think you are the only one that is able to do it, then it will be hard to hand tasks off. And make no mistake, there will be a time that you HAVE to hand things off if you want to grow.
As the old African proverb says, “If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
In addition to delegation, I learned another downside to my “if it’s to be it’s up to me” attitude. I am robbing my team of the opportunity to learn. I talked about this in this Delivering Marketing Joy episode with Scott Loerhke. My daughter, Skylar Hasseman, has recently joined the team at Hasseman Marketing. And sometimes, with the best of intentions, I take on projects in order to help push them along.
This steals her opportunity to learn.
As we bring on new team members, it’s so important to give them the chance to grow into their new roles. It will take longer. But if we ever hope to scale our organization further than ourselves, we have to give them the chance to learn, fail and grow for themselves.
If it’s to be, it’s up to us.
Get a copy of my best-selling book “The Give First Economy” for FREE here. Thanks for reading! Learn more about Hasseman Marketing (and how we might be able to help you) here.
