Life In The Fast Lane
I’ve started enough businesses now that I’ve noticed a pattern emerging. My businesses follow my pace. This means, if I want my business to be moving quickly I have to be at my best. Not stuck in the slow lane, holding up traffic. I am far from perfect and at times I end up there.
The problem is this: it’s hard to figure out which lane you should be in and it’s easy to drift out of your lane.
What’s The Big Idea?
I’ll give you a personal example: I’m a big idea guy. Vision is my strength. But when I sit down to talk about new ideas with my team, I often start getting into the weeds of HOW to make it happen, rather than what we’re after and why.
But operations, implementation, project management...that’s all a very weak area for me. When I pull the conversation in that direction, when I try to manage it, I’m drifting into my slowest lane. And that’s very bad for business.
It’s a hard lesson to learn, but one I’ve taken to heart. I’m the ideas guy. I’m the big picture guy. I’m the where, when and why guy. I am NOT the how guy.
So I’ve built a team I trust. They are strong in the areas where I am weak.
And, perhaps most importantly, I’ve empowered them to challenge me when they see me in the wrong lane...or when they see me eyeing it.
It’s Trench Warfare
That doesn’t mean I have to stay totally out of the trenches. When we add a new service offering at Ad Zombies, like we’re doing with Custom Product Photography right now, I am often the crash test dummy. So I take on the first projects, I do the work. The team waits to see how it goes, what I do, and what the result looks like. THEN they help engineer how we build infrastructure and operations to scale fulfillment.
And yes, I learned this the hard way a few times. I’ve engineered processes that are so convoluted and over-complicated that they confused the team more than they helped. They slowed everyone down. They sent my team on the wrong path. That’s why the most common question in leadership and planning meetings with my team is: “What are you trying to accomplish here?”
So how do you know what your lane is? How do you know when you’re in it?
It’s effortless. Not the knowing, that takes practice, but the feeling of being there. It’s flow. It’s like that moment when you’re running where you break through and just find your stride (assuming that exists...I’ve heard of it, anyway).
When you’re in the wrong lane, it’s like you’re trying to sprint through standing water. There’s a lot of resistance.
Take a good look at your days, your team, your patterns. What’s your fast lane? How can you stay there? And, how can you build or shape a team that supports your strengths and your weaknesses?