It's all your fault...

In today's email, I'm going to go over one of the most important skills in business:

Leadership.

And to demonstrate my point, I'm going to tell ya a little story that happened last week...

Recently, I hired someone on to take over my role at my ghostwriting agency.

Basically managing writers, editing, and doing the day-to-day tasks.

I expected there to be some slight challenges in the first month or two.

Mostly, it went smoothly.

But last week, we ran into a problem…

I took a backseat in my business and let this person handle everything.

And as deadlines came closer, the work piled up for them. Then, when the deadline arrived for a couple clients, they were missed. I wasn’t aware until it was too late.

This caused a ton of stress and anxiety on their part and mine. Causing us to look disorganized in the eyes of the client and I’m assuming, lost us some trust in our abilities.

But, after popping an Adderall and working like a meth addict, we pulled it together and got all the work done.

Late, but it was done.

Now, the easy thing to do would be to blame the person I hired.

Yes, it was their job to get it done.

Yes, I told them to tell me if they needed help.

Yes, I asked if the deadline was going to be met.

But, it’s not their fault.

It’s mine.

There are 3 reasons for this.

Lemme explain…

1. Make them understand

When you lead a team, it’s not enough to tell them what to do.

You need to make them understand why it’s important.

That way, it’s not a meaningless chore. It becomes purpose driven. They feel like they’re contributing to the team’s mission and become more motivated.

2. Align incentives

Humans are wired to do what’s in their best interest.

I made the mistake of not structuring the job with this in mind.

Whether or not they met the deadline, they got paid the same. So, there wasn’t alignment on what they did and what they got rewarded.

I’m a believer in positive reinforcement over consequences. So, going forward, I’m structuring their role in a way where they get paid a monthly rate. But, if they meet the deadlines, they get bonus pay.

Now they’ll be more motivated to hit the targets.

3. Take responsibility for problems

When we talked to the client, I told them it was my fault for not managing my team better. I owned up to it. No excuses.

If I blamed my team for not hitting the deadlines, sure, it would’ve felt good for my ego, but the problem wouldn’t be improved.

By taking responsibility, it allowed me to look at what I was doing wrong and what I could do to prevent the same problem from happening again.

But the most important part, it showed the team that we’re equals. It didn’t isolate them and make them feel shitty. It showed that we’re all on the same team and that when one person messes up, we all mess up.

This gives them a further sense of accountability because it’s not just them who they’re letting down. And when you adopt this mindset, then one person’s wins becomes everyone’s wins. In my eyes, this is crucial for developing a cohesive team.

The biggest takeaway I want you to have is taking responsibility for everything in your business life.

If an employee makes a mistake, treat it as your own.

Because it is.

If they didn’t do a task properly, you either:

• Didn’t align incentives

• Didn’t hire the right person

• Didn’t train them well enough

Or whatever other reason.

Now, it may sound harsh, but it’s actually extremely empowering. Since you take responsibility, you take control of future outcomes. You can analyze where you went wrong and create solutions to prevent the problem from happening again.

Sure your ego takes a short-term hit, but it results in long-term peace.

Conclusion

One of the biggest lesson I’ve been learning this year is that what got you to one level won’t get you to the next.

Each step of the way, you’re going to face new challenges and require new skills to overcome them.

For me right now, I’m learning leadership and systems. I’m definitely not an expert, but hopefully today’s email gave you some insights that’ll help you in the future.

Aside from that, have a kickass Thursday.

Dakota “Figuring it out as I go” Robertson