A World Built for Productivity

I was catching up with a former client the other day when he said something that stopped me in my tracks. I had to jot it down for this blog. He said: “I had a great profession, but I did not fit in. I built my company to be a world where I can be productive.”

This pretty much sums up entrepreneurship for many of us. We are the “misfits, the rebels, the round pegs, and the troublemakers” that Steve Jobs referenced in Apple’s Think Different campaign back in 1997.

Why Entrepreneurs Don’t Fit the Corporate Mold

You may have felt this way before breaking out on your own. I certainly did. I felt frustrated by the slow pace, the boring politicking, and the meaningless policies—the rules, committees, and hierarchies designed to keep the bank “safe” from us entrepreneurial employees who might color outside the lines.

That said, corporate jobs are great for people who want the perceived stability and constancy of slow change, and for those who yearn for others to create structures and ladders for them.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only about 10% of the U.S. workforce is self-employed, including freelancers. Another study from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and the Kauffman Foundation says that 8–10% of the population runs established businesses.

That means roughly 90% of the population likes—or at least tolerates—corporate and institutional structures.

And thank goodness they do. If the ratio were reversed, our society would be a Wild West of chaos. We need people who like structure, because the businesses we create need to build systems and processes to operate consistently and scale effectively.

Create a Business That Fits You

Nevertheless, for us “crazy ones,” it is a wonderful opportunity to be able to build a world where we are not only tolerated but embraced. By starting a business, you can focus on what Dan Sullivan calls your Unique Abilities and hire people around you to do everything else.

But here’s the catch: don’t try to simply hire a silver-bullet “Integrator” to run your business for you. It is unrealistic to expect that you can hand over the keys to a hired-hand leader and they will run the business as effectively as you could.

The Successor Myth

This is a false dream that business owners—and even kings—have nurtured since time immemorial: “Just find and groom a successor who will learn all you know about the business and take over the reigns.” This illusion is a major reason why 75% of small businesses listed by business brokers and small-cap investment banks remain unsold and why only one-third of family businesses successfully transition.

Instead, Build a Leadership Team

Here’s what you should do instead:

• Build a leadership team of competent and committed individuals who embrace your company’s values.
• Mentor them.
• Empower them to own their respective functions.
• Teach them how to define and optimize playbooks.
• Help them hire A-players.
• Show them how to delegate the doing, so they have time to do the leading.

In other words, make them “Mini-CEOs” of your business—people who can think strategically and grow your company. Your goal should be that they eventually spend 80% of their time leading, and 20% or less doing.

That’s when your company becomes a growth machine.

Your Role as Visionary Leader

You can call one of your Mini-CEOs™ an “Integrator,” but don’t allow them to cut you off from your leadership team. No visionary leader should tolerate that in a small business—and they shouldn’t have to. Your employees need your vision to inspire, mentor, and energize them.

The beauty of this approach is that you can focus on the stuff you love. Typically, for visionary leaders, that means creative, innovative, and relational work—such as marketing, engineering, strategic sales, and partnerships.

Build a Business That Works for You

This is how you build that world where you can be productive.

If you’d like to explore building a Function Ownership Chart™ for your leaders, download a free worksheet.