Stop Micromanaging and Become an Emotionally Intelligent Leader

Most Entrepreneurs started with an Idea, an Idea which became a business.

Couple this with the non conformist attitude that makes an entrepreneur, who he is, you get some someone who is brilliant at what he does but not a natural people person.

This is something every entrepreneur should change about himself. A business is all about people, which includes the clients as well as your employees.

One of the biggest problems that every entrepreneur wrestles with is to delegate decision making. As each decision impacts your dream it is understandable that you want to micromanage everything.

Unfortunately this won’t work and you will end up being your own enemy. What makes it even more intense is the fact that when you started out you probably did everything all by yourself.

You are burning the mid night oil, you put your blood and sweat into it and you are afraid that if you delegate it to someone, they won’t show the same commitment that you have for your organization.

This is where trust plays an important part. It is the same as hiring a baby sitter or sending your kid to school. You can’t be with them every minute of the day and as kids learn from someone better equipped to teach them than you an organization will grow further if you delegate certain aspects of it to someone who has better experience and skills to handle it.

The classic example for this is finances. By delegating your finances to someone else you can see how much of a positive influence it can have on your organization and also frees up your time so that you can work on the larger picture.

As the business evolves you need to evolve as well. When you start out you are the first employee of the company and have to slog to get it up and running.

As the company grows you hire employees and then managers. At this stage you cannot be seen wiping the floor, you need to be motivating your team of managers to make things happen.

Step Back and Create a System Rather Than Micro Manage Everything

Most entrepreneurs who don’t have business degrees tend to make the mistake of micro managing all the aspects of their company. They have to realize that the whole point of having the company is to free up more time for you.

By micromanaging everything you are working continuously without looking forward to the long term goals of the company.

Letting go of that control can be a little tough, it’s like mothers allowing their kids to go to school all by themselves for the first time. You have to understand that this is for the good of the company and yourself.

The best way to delegate your responsibilities is to first identify those individuals who can take up the reins from you. Write down your day to day activities. For an entrepreneur running the business becomes second nature.

He doesn’t think about the umpteen number of things he is doing everyday and sometimes doesn’t even realize he is doing so much. So write everything down.

Prioritize your responsibilities and start delegating the smaller ones first. This will also help you gauge your successor.

Write down step by step instructions for tasks so that they can be completed in your absence the same way they would have in your presence.

Step back as much as you can but this has to be a very gradual process. Your confidence in your team leaders should improve along with their confidence that they can handle the responsibilities easily.

By getting away from the mundane everyday task you can focus on the issues that are plaguing your company or expand it much rapidly.

You can focus on company’s long term growth which includes raising capital, expanding the market and also introducing new products to the market.