MANAGER

Sep

2021

Three Primary Roles of Business Leaders

Often when I am helping small business owners think into their business I have to help them think at the third of these three roles. Why? Because they may get stuck in the other two and fail to create time for the third.

Not long ago I re-read the book The E-myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. I will not go into the details of this book, but the following ideas are based largely on his thoughts. I have found whether a startup business leader, growing business leader, or an established organization all leaders go through these three phases. Depending on their role and the size of their company each of these hats may be worn at different times.

Technician

Whether you are a start-up business owner, solopreneur, or leader in a large organization you started here. We all are good at something and have expertise in a specific area. It may be engineering based, sales-based, service-oriented or something else, but you know that subject well. As a leader if we remain at the technician level we run into two problems.

Micromanagement. We think that the way we have done it should be done by everyone. This can lead to unintentionally disempowering those we lead.

Micro-focus. If we still love to provide the service, build the product, etc. then we struggle to see the bigger picture. If being the technician is your sweet spot, then get people around you who can help with the other roles or grow into the next two roles.

Manager

The manager role requires building systems and processes that make the business sustainable. A business cannot survive if one person does everything. Even successful solopreneurs realize they need to automate and create systems to accomplish everything. Whether a single person business or multinational company we all have to make this first shift in thinking.

This is the shift from being a diligent productive worker to thinking into more efficiently producing. We are raising our thinking to the first level of understanding how to work on the business. This is where we think how to accomplish the technical work and keep getting it done in the most efficient and effective manner possible.

Leader

You may be thinking these are the same. Yes and no. Yes in that both have to think beyond just doing the work, but when you put your leader hat on this requires, as leadership expert John Maxwell puts it, “seeing more before.” Leaders in start-ups and small businesses are the most prone to fail at this area unless it comes natural, but multinational organizational leaders get stuck at the second stage if they are not intentional.

When you are thinking like a leader you are working on the business as you see it in the future. Let me illustrate. If you have a team of one now, but want to see your company, department, team grow then think beyond what you see. What roles and responsibilities must exist for you to have a larger team, department, or organization? What systems and processes must you create? What is your vision? What are the values that will guide who you hire? These are just a few of the questions you need to think into when wearing your leader hat.

So where are you investing most of your time now? Where do you need to invest more time? I need others to help me think at the leader level. If you need help like, contact me and let’s set up a no cost to you thirty-minute thinking partner session to help you think into your results. I challenge you not to stay where you are, but raise your level of leadership thinking so you can improve your results. Lead Well.

Mar

2021

Technician, Manager or Leader?

I have been reading the book The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber for the second time. In this book he discusses three ways individuals approach running their business. I would suggest they are three hats that people wear. Each hat is necessary, but some leaders struggle wearing one of these hats enough.

Allow me to share my version of these three hats based on Gerber’s thinking.

Technician

Gerber discusses this as the stage where the technical expert realizes they excel at something and decide to go out on their own. This is the entrepreneurial experience. Within a larger organization this could be the individual contributor who now is in management. At home this is the parent of their first child.

All three of these individuals are an expert in something. A skill, a specific role, or as a parent in knowing their life. The technician is great at the work and enjoys doing the work. For example, a great cookie maker opens a cookie shop and begins to realize they own a job. They are making all the cookies and running the business.

Manager

I am going to drift a little from Gerber’s definition of a manager. According to Gerber the manager brings planning, order, and predictability. Each of us fulfills a manager role. In some area of work or home we plan and turn chaos into order. I would suggest the manager in us fights for structure and control.

Management is essential to create systems and processes to keep moving the business, team, or family forward. This is the area is where people get stuck. I have heard leaders in organizations say they are “in the weeds” too much. The overwhelming attention to details of the daily business activity creates a situation where the leader does all the work, the business owner owns a job, or becoming a hovering parent.

Leader

Gerber describes this level as the Entrepreneur. I am calling this the leader. This is the area many business owners fail to create time for. The business owner works on the business instead of or while working in the business. I will not go into detail on this as Gerber explains this well.

For the leader in an organization, this is when he or she has empowered and equipped the team well. As the team is equipped the leader is free to think into growing that area of the business and pursuing new initiatives for the team. For the parent, this is taking time to think of the important values for your family and what your family stands for.

The leader role requires time and initiative to think.

As you look at these three areas. Where are you spending most of your time? Have you created systems to effectively lead your team, organization, or family? Do you need help creating time to think into your business or team? Contact me for a free thirty-minute one on one thinking partner session. All three are required, but without leadership we limit our results so contact me to help you raise your leadership lid and improve your results. Lead Well.