Lazy Leadership
medium.com/flow/lazy-leadership-8ba19e34f959
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But over the years, I’ve realized that my so-called laziness is actually a huge advantage.
By cobbling together a bunch of ideas from people much smarter than I am, I’ve worked out a system I call Lazy Leadership that I use to run my companies.
it’s about taking a step back, leaning on your team, and becoming an observer instead of an active participant in your business.
Entrepreneurship is really just a fancy word for delegation. It’s a continuous process of removing yourself from the equation step-by-step and empowering your team to do the things that they do best.
First, you cut out the middle man (your boss) and start working for yourself.
Finally, if you want, you can hire a CEO who will run the whole company for you while you sit on the board.
Best of all, I got to empower a great group of people to do the best work of their careers while I focused on building the machine (more on that later).
Some entrepreneurs never break through the delegation barrier and get stuck along the way. They try hiring someone, and when that person doesn’t behave exactly like they would, they jump in and take over.
“If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business, you have a job. And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic.”
Henry Ford didn’t build cars, he built factories. To me, a great leader’s job is to build a machine that produces a product.
Many CEO’s forget this and get stuck in sales, marketing, product — whatever part of the business they love — while they ignore the bigger picture. An exceptional leader builds a company that functions without them.
The secret to his success? According to him, it’s that he thinks about his business as a machine that he engineers to produce the outcomes he wants.
Inspired by Ray, I now think of my companies as machines. I determine the result that I want, design a machine that will produce the result, then figure out what sort of people I need as part of it.
I swapped others into the roles that required travel, and the business grew because I was no longer the limiting factor.
Happy former clients to build and maintain our reputation.
Demand from new clients to pay us for our services.
Talented designers and developers to build apps for our clients.
Today, I only spend my time on things that I’m both good at and that nobody else can do.
Human Resources to recruit talented designers and developers, keep them happy, and maintain our culture.
Client Relations to build relationships with our clients, understand and anticipate their needs, and make sure we exceed their expectations.
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