Greetings from Wyoming!
I have been exploring our National Parks in an RV, enjoying family time, soaking in natural sites that keep me in a state of awe; and occasionally checking my email. This is a time for me to relax and simultaneously work on my MBA – Management by Absence, a concept introduced to me by Tim Ferriss in 4-Hour Workweek.
The reality is, even if it’s “just you”, you are running an organization, or should be. You’ve got a team, or need one. That team may be comprised of vendors, partners, trusted advisers, ambassadors, subcontractors, employees or any combination. You need to be a leader and leaders need to empower others, not micromanage them (this comes from a “recovered-micromanager” who learned the hard way – oh the stories I could tell).
So, a few observations and thoughts as you consider working on your MBA:
- If you are stuck in the “it’s too complicated, only I can do it” mode, you are simply limiting your potential and setting yourself up for burn out. Trust me, it’s RARELY that complicated.
- Empower people around you in very clear ways. Before I left, I gave my team a specific budget – both in hard dollars and soft dollars (number of workforce hours) — they could spend to fix any problem without asking me.
- Budget for your time away – both in dollars and workflow. The last two weeks of August are typically quiet in my world… so I’m taking advantage of that cycle. This is a bucket list trip for us and we’ve been saving for quite some time. Remember “Christmas Club” savings accounts? Consider a “Vacation Club” savings account.
- Reboot your brain. As uncomfortable as it may feel, stepping away from your business, technology and day to day routines is, without a doubt, the most productive thing I have learned to do. It clears away the mental chatter, pauses the worldly demands and simply makes me a better business person, wife, mom, grandma, aunt, etc.
Most of all, empowering my team builds their confidence which makes them better able to serve our community: clients, prospects, vendors, ambassadors… YOU!
Talk about a win-win-win!
Enjoy the rest (pun intended) of your summer and we’ll see you in September for back to school & back to work!
Stay tuned…
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