When you peer into many businesses, it may surprise you to see how much energy is spent trying to get people to simply do what they are supposed to.
If you are trying to scale your business to drive revenue and make customers happy, then having systems and people to run those systems are part of the mix.
Assume the systems work. They are designed to work and their proof is that they work in thousands of other businesses.
Your main variable then becomes the people you have on your team. If they cannot execute consistently, make decisions and collaborate continuously, then your system suffers. One person within a team can create a choke point that keeps you from growing.
Thus, the best kind of people either are self-employed or see themselves that way. They initiate and take action instead of continuously wait for someone to tell them what to do. They accept full personal responsibility and are focused on winning rather than maintaining appearances.
Now, say that you have a mix of self-employed mindsets with employee mindsets on your team. They have to work together to get things done. Your system will limp along. It can only go as fast as your lowest common denominator.
And imagine how your A players feel when they observe no consequences for C and D players on your team. Such a setup communicates that mediocrity is acceptable. Why do an excellent job on time with care when you have to work with someone that has no consequences otherwise?
The reality is that talent is everywhere and accessible if you are patient and maintain consistent, high standards.
But if your team is not self-reliant and you are finding most of the energy you expend around babysitting and following up on whether something got done or communicated, that is far different than one that is continually innovating and pushing the boundaries to make things more efficient.
What kind of people do you have on your team? Why?
