What Are Our Weaknesses?

Entrepreneurs tend to be optimists. We don't see the obstacles between us and the goal line. We typically just see the goal line.

We don't want negativity around us. We want people that share our vision. In some way, we are almost encouraging people to become clones of us. And while it might be nice to have everyone aligned with a vision and a set of values., it is not nice and not helpful and not even sane to have everyone align on competencies.

One of the joys of being our own boss is to get to choose how to spend our time and what tasks we get to perform. In choosing  our areas of responsibility, we are, in fact, also choosing those areas that we are abandoning. We have either decided that there are some areas of management which we do not enjoy; or there are some areas to which we assign a lower priority. In either instance, we either delegate those duties or ignore them.

If everyone else in the company is just like us, that would mean there is no one to delegate to. And that would further mean that important items don't get accomplished.

I had one business where my general manager/COO was enamored with the position I had carved out for myself. It was a combination of visionary, rainmaker, proselytizer, customer relations and problem solver.  He wanted to be just like me.  Well, guess what? The business did not need two of me (I'm not sure it even needed one) but it certainly did need a COO who was detail-oriented, operations-minded and penny pinching. We needed someone who watched the numbers (because I certainly didn't want to be tied to a chair and a spreadsheet.) and tightened expenditures. I was out there boosting the top line to new heights and I was counting on up to get us to a bigger bottom line. Well, he didn't keep his eye on the ball and I didn't keep a close enough eye on him- until one day it hit me what was going on.

He was the one with the MBA. He was the one with the background in the business I had purchased. And yet he wanted to be me. What was wrong with that?

The entrepreneur can choose to wear a number of heights. We all have closets full of hats. But, there are some that don't fit us and we have to make sure that somebody else is wearing them, and wearing them well.

I don't particularly care for finance. I recognize its utmost importance but it is just not my cup of tea. But for a business of mine to be a success, I have to have a strong, skilled, passionate finance person to look after our numbers as if they were just his/hers. While I and other entrepreneurs can probably be a jack of all trades, we are really only masters of a few. Make sure the other hats are being worn by folks that have the competencies and the attitude to master their areas.

In every large corporation, the C level has a number of executives-COO, CFO, CIO, VP Sales, VP Marketing, VP HR, etc. Which hats do you wear and which ones do you give to others?

Even if we know what we want to be doing, we also need to know that we do it well. While what we are good at usually becomes what we want to be doing, that is not always the case. We must make sure that we are competent and have the competencies for what we are spending our time on. We need to look at ourselves and be honest and objective- and we need to ask others who will give us an honest opinion.

We can't be blind to our faults and our weaknesses and thus debilitate our businesses.Where the right hats and make sure they fit. And be just as sure that the others in your company have hats that fit.