Episode #322: How To Identify When You Need Help As A Leader

Asking others for help can be difficult. The psychology of driven, perfectionist people though is to prefer doing everything themselves. Others never seem to match up to their expectations and standards. Founders, entrepreneurs, strong willed individuals are often guilty of this “I will do it myself” mentality. I am one of them. For various reasons to do with different backgrounds and experiences, we are seized with the need for independence and self-reliance. This works fine up to a point. The modern age though has seen business become so much more complex. Specialisation, niche dominance, technology, the need for light speed are all driving us toward realising we cannot do it all by ourselves. How do we audit ourselves so we know we have to turn off that independent streak spigot and unleash that “get help” flexibility?

Here are 7 indicators that we need to rethink our approach and tackle issues from a different mind set.

1. When we need more experience

We know what we know, but we don’t know everything. Our lack of experience can be a blocker to further growth and we are limiting ourselves unnecessarily. We need to hire the specialists with that required experience, rather than trying to recalibrate ourselves to master every new aspect of business. There are only so many hours in the day, so we are better off to get the experience in quickly through others, than try and work it out ourselves through trial and error.

2. When we need a different skill set

Leonardo Da Vinci was a polymath, the essence of the renaissance man who could do it all. We are not him. What we need to master today is so much broader and more complex, we cannot hope to mimic Leonardo. Audit the business for the key skill sets needed today and also for those which will be needed in the future. As organisations grow, some people get left behind. They were capable and fine at a certain size, but struggle with the bigger scale and new accountability. We need to skill up those who can handle it and bring in new people to fill the gaps. All the while, keeping an eye for potential gaps which will emerge over the horizon.

3. When we need a different perspective

Making decisions, based on what we know and the information available to us is a leader strength. The problem though is, are we locked into a narrow view of what is possible? We have probably all seen that training tool where, depending on how you look at the drawing, it is either a beautiful young woman or an old crone. Same drawing, but different insights into what we are actually looking at. The leader who is an order giver, a commander, a teller, will miss the opportunity to get different insights from within the team. We have to recall that scene during the triumphant parade through the streets of Rome, Caesar had a bloke next to him in the chariot whispering in his ear “you are not a God”. We need to understand we are not a God either and get inputs from others.

4. When we need creativity and innovation

Sometimes the less people know, the more insight they have. The codification of the work, the history of the people in the firm, the inherent groupthink all work against creative ideas emerging internally. We need these in order to thrash the competition in the marketplace. We get very, very focused on ourselves and lack outside perspectives. Bringing in people from outside is handy, because they challenge the norms, ideas, sacred cows and the established hierarchy. I always ask our new people to report to me after their first month on what we are doing that is working and what we need to do better. Unlike the rest of us, they see things we all take for granted and which we don’t question anymore.

5. When we need additional people power

Japan is very good at this. They throw a lot more people at tasks and projects than we do in the West. They are more fixated with ensuring no mistakes, so they do that by applying the weight of many people. We are fixated on reducing costs, being lean and we will put up with mistakes. There is also the danger that as we grow, we start to outstrip the capability of the existing team to cope with the work. We have to be observant to make sure the machine can run efficiently and that we have enough people in place.

6. When we need additional resources

The key resources are usually people, cash and time. We can get into a poverty mind set after a recession. We have wound everything down so tight, to protect the cash flow, that we are hurting the business now that things have recovered. We need to plan for additional resources to sustain the growth. As we grow in scale, we get busier, so access to the boss becomes a rare commodity. As leaders, we lose touch with the engine room, because we are locked up in the wheelhouse. We need to bring in resources that free us up so we can work on the business and not just in the business.

7. When we need a values check

We start the business with high hopes and grand aspirations. The Vision, Mission Value statement is crafted so carefully. It goes up on the wall behind the protective glass and then gathers dust. We need to keep these ideas alive over time and with the influx of new people. There is probably only one person left in my office who took part in the original effort to create these guidelines for the business. To deal with this, we go through Vision, Mission, Values every single morning at the start of the day, so that we don’t forget them and to get us all on the same page.

We can’t do it all by ourselves, but we can do the maximum amount possible, if we get others to help us. To do that takes a mind shift about how to run the firm and what is needed. The trick is building awareness, rather than repeating routine. Take an audit of what you are doing and make some decisions about where help will add to the business.