Automating your job

Ever feel like you have entirely too much to do?  Are people knocking down your door with problems and complaints, taking up all of your precious time?  When you’re in a position of leadership, there is a simple process to rectify all of this.

You have to start off by teaching and training those who work for you.  Prepare them to have the capability to perform your job.  The best people to start with are those that express a desire to be promoted or are top performers, then you can move on to everyone else.

Create a level of leadership beneath you.  Groom those who directly report to you to be able to handle day to day tasks and issues that you currently deal with yourself.  Not only will it help to develop them but it will create a layered structure of management so that you don’t have to *gasp* micromanage.

Communicate both in the short and long term.  You have to have structure.  Let it be known what you want to accomplish today and in the long run.  Stay focused and keep your people focused.  Show them progress and results, and let them buy into what you are selling.

Develop a team of associates work in an atmosphere of self reliance.  Encourage employees to make decisions.  When someone asks you for your advice on how to do something, in turn ask them how they would do it!  You’ll be surprised to find out that they already have an opinion, they’re just looking for your acceptance.

Teach your employees the philosophy of just doing it.  After all, it’s a lot easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.  If they fail, take the failure and turn it into a learning experience, not a negative one.

Always give your employees more to do than they possibly can accomplish.  This way you continually raise the bar and get the most productivity.  The human mind won’t acknowledge it’s true capabilities until it discovers them.  Everyone has doubt.  Erase that doubt and show people that they are capable of doing anything.

Be relentless.  Don’t give up on anything, and don’t let your associates give up.  Repeat yourself often, and be consistent.  Have clear goals in mind and make sure everyone knows them. 

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Rinse and repeat.  You may grow weary of the process, but success is just around the corner.