If you’re dissatisfied with the work output of your team all the time or you’re always finding yourself taking the responsibilities back from the people you delegated, you might be the common denominator in these scenarios. 

You need to let go of this idea that you can just show up as a business owner and lead as is, then expect everyone else to adapt or die. 

More often than not, the symptoms and problems in your business could be your fault. Here are some symptoms indicating that change should happen in your business:

  • You feel constantly disappointed or you’re operating in a state of perpetual anxiety about your business, your team, or what you’re working on. 
  • Your team members are distant and they’re not engaged unless they have to be. 
  • Your team is always defending their actions before they tell you what happened because they’re bracing for the worst from you. 
  • If your team avoids meeting with you. 

Are you micromanaging your staff?

Micromanagers often notice that they’re terrified to let go. They’ll keep a hand in all the operations of the business. They have glorious excuses as to why they’ve got to do it. But they’re constantly overwhelmed and they’re struggling to let go of control. Then they end up getting drowned in tasks they could have otherwise delegated somewhere else. 

Are you a perfectionist?

Perfectionists find themselves assigning projects and then they take them back. They never let anything be good enough without hopping in to fix it themselves. This is called a sick cycle carousel. Eventually, they end up resenting their team and will have a ridiculously cluttered schedule. This would result in an anxious workplace with everybody feeling they’re always falling short. 

Are you a disengaged leader?

Disengaged leaders don’t know much about the team around them. Conversely, the team doesn’t know much about the leader as well. They treat their people like task rabbits rather than strategic partners.

The Beautiful Domino Effect

You can only see these symptoms when you’re willing to gain that 360-degree view. To remedy this, you need to open up yourself to a new level of self-awareness. You need to be really honest about who you are, and what you need to change – not what your team needs to change. Once you’ve knocked down this first domino, all the others in line will begin to fall down. 

If you want to learn more about how you can improve as a business owner and a leader, check out the Diary of a Doer Podcast