Proper Delegation in Small Businesses: Stop Trying to Be The Hero

Why the best thing I ever did as a small business owner was admit all the things I'm bad at.

Recently, one of my teammates said to me: "One of your strengths is that you're able to admit when you're bad at something, and ask for help or delegate to someone who's good at it."

This wasn't always the case.

When I first went from solo gourmet marshmallow maker to "real humans depend on this business for their livelihood," I truly believed that leadership meant being Good At Everything. Not because I needed my team to see me as some kind of multi-faceted genius... but because if I couldn't do something expertly myself, I felt like I had nooooo business asking someone else to do it.

Turns out: that's not leadership.

What effective delegation actually looks like in a small business

Over time, I learned that the real magic is building a team where everyone gets to spend as much time as possible in their zone of genius; where we can all happily say, "I am not the person for this task, and thank GOODNESS you are."

The business got better the moment I stopped trying to be the hero of every story. And everyone's jobs (including mine!) became way more fulfilling, too.

Now I have a super collaborative and equally autonomous leadership team. My job is to make sure they're set up for success, and then get TF out of their way. SO fun and cool.

And from time to time, I get to act as a pinch hitter. Because I am technically ABLE to do every piece of this business, but my day-to-day gets to be the stuff I'm best at and love the most. Also so fun and cool.

If you're still in your "I must do everything myself" era

I see you... headed straight for burnout and disgruntled employees.

Consider this your reminder, permission slip, and loving slap upside the head: YOU don't have to be the best at EVERYTHING to be a good leader.

You just have to build a business and a team where EVERYONE gets to be the best at SOMETHING.