Hey everybody, Gary King, business mentor here.
Say no to teamwork and be selfish.
I’ve been working with a senior leader of a fast-growing business today and he has been struggling to hit his targets on a regular basis. The business owner is becoming increasingly frustrated that he has not been focused on the tasks in hand and not hitting some of the bigger objectives that are needed of him.
Now, I sat down with him, and what transpires is that because he is a font of knowledge and because he’s got tonnes of experience, there’s a whole host of people in the team that are regularly knocking at his door. He is getting distracted by customers regularly ringing and emailing, spending time working on things that he shouldn’t be.
Now, that’s fine. I’m all for teamwork, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for doing the right thing for the business. But, there comes a time when you should look at things selfishly. Say “I’m not getting my objectives, I’m not getting my tasks and I’m not getting my goals achieved here. I’m in danger of not having a very comfortable conversation with my boss at the end of the year if I don’t get focused.”
Now, the trick is that the people who are constantly interrupting and asking for things, most of the time they are able to get the answers themselves, they just choose the easiest route. Most of the time they aren’t sure of where else to look. They will say they need it, but they don’t need it straight away.
So, by sometimes saying, look, I can’t help you for a couple of days or hours, find this out yourself. This teaches them to do it themselves, instead of you just doing it for them. Sometimes you’ve got to just put the teamwork to one side. Focus on number one. Hit your own objectives, hit your own results and have a good conversation with your boss at the end of the year.
I hope that’s been of value. Take care for now.
Related resources:
- Which apps should I be using in my business?
- Where are you spending your valuable time?
- Why happy staff means happy clients
Developing a dream team is one of the essential building blocks to running a successful business. If you are working too many hours or are frustrated about any element of your team, it’s time to take action.
Access our tool here to get started: tendo-uk.com/dreamteam
