One day, you’ll notice that you can’t do it all. You can’t continue on the path. It’s not working like it used to and you’re running yourself into the ground. It’s not sustainable or scaleable. That old path is capped by your time and energy. If the thing you lead is going to continue to grow, you’re going to have to become good at helping others work, do, contribute, and achieve. This is the second half of work.
You’re already good at execution. You’re a high-performer who has already achieved at respected levels. Now, leadership is the second half of your work.
The first half of work: Doing. Becoming great doing the work, solving the problems, figuring out the “how,” fixing the problems.
The second half of work: Empowering. Becoming a leader who positions the right people in the right places with the right tools, then draws out their greatness so they can take the ball and go further. They will figure out solutions to future problems. They will come up with new products, services, and even strategies.
At first, there is something in us that fears this shift. We like being the man. We like being the go-to woman. Even though it’s killing us slowly and keeping things small.
We fear that people will not be loyal and will take our empowerment and go do their own thing. And they might!
But the second half of work is a shift, in several ways…
The Shifts to Make
- Doing → Empowering
- Fear → Belief
- Scarcity → Abundance
- Me → We
Of course, there are a lot of tools, habits, and ideas that make excelling at the second half of work faster and more fun. But, at the end of the day, it’s simple. Not easy, but simple.
If you run a business, I’m happy to share with you where I think your opportunities for improvement are on a FREE 30-minute Strategy Call.
