Replicating Yourself

by Barbara Mencer

One of the hardest things to do when you operate a small business is to manufacture more of yourself.  Just imagine how many opportunities you could pursue, how many things you could get done, and how large you'd be able to grow if you could just clone yourself somehow.

But you can't.  There's only one of you.  So, what do you do so you can get more things done, take on more opportunities, and expand your business? 

Well, you get great people to help you.  But the trick is to get people who can truly replicate your strengths while compensating for your weaknesses.  Or at the very least not do harm to your enterprise.  

This isn't easy to do.  You know what you want.  You know how you'd handle certain situations, but absent a Vulcan mind meld, the employees or the contractors you've hired aren't likely to know how to be you without a lot of discussion and interaction with you, and training from you. 

So, take the time to give it. 

What you want is for the people working with you to feel empowered and to take ownership.

Okay, so those are buzz words.  What do they mean exactly?

Empowerment means giving the person the freedom to act in your place, as your lieutenant ... which is just French for place holder ... someone who can take your place when you can't be involved.  Of course, it's not just about the giving.  The person has to be willing to show initiative and actually be able to take your place.  Not everyone will fill the bill.  Choose carefully.  When you're interviewing people for positions, give them hypothetical situations and ask them how they'd respond.  It'll tell you a lot. 

Ownership is when the people working with you behave the way an owner ... you ... would behave.  They think ahead.  They think creatively.  They look to solve problems on their own.  They go out of their way to keep clients happy.  They look to get the best deals and save money.   

They think of the operation as their own.  You reward such people.  Our assistant is a gem and a tech whiz.  She speaks of the computers in the office as "my computers."  Bingo.  Ownership.

Quick story.  I was recently going through my credit card statement and found what turned out to be a fraudulent charge.  Long story short, after two conversations and two completely unsatisfactory responses from the customer service department of the merchant in question, I got a lady who clearly felt empowered to genuinely help me rather than just read to me from the procedure manual.  She knew that's what the people in charge would do if they were on the phone with me.

And she took ownership in that she knew I was not happy and there might be negative consequences if I went away from the conversation dissatisfied.  She acted like an owner would and gave me all the help she possibly could.

Now, who do you want working for you ... the people who say there's nothing they can do or the person who takes care of business the way it should be taken care of?

But you don't get there by accident.

Here's a quick list off the top of my head of what it takes to make this work:  

• Find a good person with the critical skills you need.  Inspire them with a vision of what you can and want to accomplish together.


• Set your intentions with them.  Make it clear you want to empower them as much as you can.  Of course, you start small and increase the authority as they grow into the role.  You relinquish authority but hold onto the ultimate responsibility.  The buck still stops with you. 


• Set clear criteria for making decisions and establish parameters ... can only spend X amount without discussing it, etc. 


• Give them the information they need and explain the processes and procedures you use.


• Delegate and disappear.  Don't micromanage, but be available if needed to answer questions and provide guidance.


• Allow the person to make mistakes and give feedback and fine-tune in a respectful and constructive way.


• Reward the person for "systematic approximations" ... getting better all the time and getting it nearly right.


• Relate as equals.  Break down the whole employer/employee ...  employer/contractor thing.  Interact as partners.


• Share the fruits of your success. 

Hey, it's not easy to replicate yourself, but it's really rewarding when you're able to.  And not just in that you have a better-running, more profitable business, but because you'll have created a team ... and a team spirit ... and that's a wonderful thing for everyone involved.  It might even be better than replicating yourself!

Regards,
Barbara