By: Betsy Hayden
We are coming into fall which becomes a “busy” time of season for most people. Capitalizing on growing your business in the summer was a piece of the puzzle. Now the earlier you can build your team in the fall, the better it will be for them and for you. Over the years, I have found there are three key areas to building a team: hiring/recruiting, delegating, and investing.
If you have ever spoken to a coach, one of the first thing they will ask you is “What do you want?” Another way to ask the same question is “What are the results you want?” In building a team, what are the results you want? Companies want motivated team players with skills to do the “job,” but most fail by not looking at how that person will fit into the existing team with their people skills. For relational businesses, what do you want to round out your team? A few things to look for: personality fit, people skills, time available to dedicate to building a business. From the experience I have coaching successful home-base business owners, there are plans and systems for recruiting, team building, and following up. Successful business owners work to meet six new people a day. I’m talking about realtors, sales people, coaches, even chiropractors. Developing the gift of initiating a conversation with a complete stranger is key. The second key is to get their contact information so that you can follow up with them. The third key is to block some time (perhaps the same time) each week to meet your new contact. This way you can ask them if that time works for them on the spot.
I have always been a firm believer in “see one—do one— teach one.” This method got me far in my corporate career as a leader, and I’m sure it can help you, too, in delegating the next thing successful business owners do. The question I am often asked is, “How do I know when to delegate?” First let me say delegating is NOT dumping; it is using the method above and helping your hire or team member until they can do the task 80% as well as you. Once that is done, you will still continue to check on them from time to time. The second part of delegating is a role of encouraging and empowering your team member to take on leadership responsibilities. For example, if you lead a podcast or weekly success meeting for your team, perhaps have a member assist you, or if for some reason life happens to you, you can call on them to take the lead. The third way to delegate/empower is to teach them to teach another team member to do the same thing. Of course, we are doing this in our hiring/recruiting stages too. When you delegate it gives you time to do more of your high priority ROI’s.
Lastly and maybe foremost, invest in yourself! There are sayings and clichés that ring true. You cannot give what you do not have. You have to continuously improve yourself, so that you can inspire your team members. Help them invest in themselves too. One of the most affordable, relationship building ways to improve yourself as a business person is to join a mastermind group. Eventually you will want to be in two mastermind groups: one that is of leaders and peers and the second will be with your team members growing, empowering, and inspiring them. They cannot give what they do not have.
I cannot finish this without adding one more valuable tidbit. Protect your time. Spend the personal development time with your team and then perhaps individual mentoring but limit that time—and I mean have a literal egg timer— to no more than ten minutes per team member per week. If you want help transitioning and empowering your team please go to https://betsyhayden.setmore.com and schedule a thirty-minute strategy session to see how we can get you and your team to the next level.
Betsy Hayden holds a degree in Architecture and a minor in Drafting & Design. Working for 5 of the largest engineering firms in the world Betsy used John Maxwell’s Leadership principles to lead successful teams. She is the CTO (Chief Thriving Officer) of Awesome Focus.
She is a Certified Speaker, Trainer and Coach of The John Maxwell Team and Appreciation At Work. As a professional speaker she focuses on: Leadership, Team Building, Communication & Recognition. Betsy can be reached at: 843-597-6555 or emailed at: 2awesomefocus@gmail.com