Creating a nimble leadership team

Bringing a team to the table is the best way to break down silos and ensure all areas of a business are functioning together smoothly. Isolation is toxic to cooperative, mission-driven performance. Involving a member of each department in decisions fosters transparency, collaborative effort, and a sense of teamwork.

Remember the 5 D’s — death, disability, divorce, distress, disagreement — can happen to anyone, at any time. Members of your leadership team should have an understudy, someone who will be a successor if a team member moves on or moves up. This keeps the team reliable and fluid, with no breaks in functionality due to absences.

Team members must also be able to see there is room for growth. Morale sinks when a work environment is stagnant, with no visible opportunities for advancement. This applies to you, too, at the top of the ladder. Your goal is to work toward replacing yourself, so that you can be an owner instead of a manager who is on call 24/7. We have seen multi-million-dollar companies where the owner is still stuck in the trenches, day in and day out.

Each of your team members bring strengths to the table. If you aren’t aware of what these are, and aren’t actively utilizing them, you are wasting one of your most valuable resources. Yet many hard-working business owners fail to set up a leadership team or simply put off the task indefinitely.

We find that business owners avoid putting a leadership team in place for one or more of the following reasons:

• They find it difficult to trust others with the responsibility of leadership.
• They’re unwilling to find the time to train others at the level required for leadership roles, or they don’t believe such training should be necessary.
• They don’t believe anyone could do the job as well as they do.
• They have generalized fears about the process and the changes it would bring.
• They love their job and can’t imagine not being in charge.
• Their identity and self-worth are tied to the job, and they feel they must continue doing it to remain valuable.
• They don’t want to lose their authority.

If any of these hit a nerve for you, you’ll be relieved to know we have walked many business owners through the process of forming a team and delegating leadership. These fears simply don’t come true — rather, installing a solid leadership team gives you the freedom to work when and how you like, while growing the value of your business.

If your schedule is packed every day and you feel like there isn’t time to change how you do business, now is the time to reach out for help from a trusted partner. Eagle Corporate Advisors can help you level up how your organization operates and give you the freedom to enjoy being a business owner on your terms.

A good first step is taking the full Altitude Assessment here to gauge how your business is performing across all fundamental areas.