My right-hand man is clipping my entrepreneurial wings. Help!
Monday, 12 May 2008
Dear Aunty B,
I read your comments to Ben on Friday, but I have the opposite problem. My right-hand man is clipping my wings. I make decisions quickly and on the run, but he is insisting that we go through proper processes.
We have grown very fast and while I brought him in to set in place structures and processes, I am now afraid he will dim our entrepreneurial zeal. We recently have taken in investors who demand that our growth continues on its upwards trajectory.
What do you think?
Wingless,
Canberra
Dear Wingless,
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Are you also clueless?
There comes a time when entrepreneurs can’t flap around their business making decisions on the fly, especially when you have investors in and you need transparent decision making.
As a business grows, people specialise and you need more formal reporting and organisational structures in place. (You must drive Mr Right-hand Man nuts.)
So don’t think about moving him along. Have a think about whether you have got what it takes to run a larger business. Appreciate what he is trying to do. And then work out how to be more entrepreneurial within the system.
Aunty B.
Comments
Paul Hauck from ICTStrategicServices.com.au writes: Just a thought for Wingless in Canberra: We see a lot of companies, successful and unsuccessful, and probably the most common successful leadership profile for getting past the key growth hurdles (particularly at the $3 to $5 million revenue level) is a team of two. One is almost always an 'ideas [person]' and the other is generally a 'bean counter.' The trick is knowing each other's value and creating the respect to find middle ground in exactly these situations.
Making the right processes work is necessary when you grow and can't do it all yourself. Remember that you're building decision processes for others to follow, when you delegate to them. Wingless should be looking to eventually move himself, on to a yacht somewhere.
