One of the most powerful things I have learned and now share with my clients is this: you are not supposed to know everything. I know, it sounds odd, crazy and counterintuitive. If you founded a business, or are moving up through a business leadership structure, it is assumed you must know everything. Or at a minimum, good at everything.
Let me clue you in on reality. You don’t. And you shouldn’t.
I have a client who is a powerful marketing person. She runs her own successful business and struggles with how to make the accounting work. It can feel embarrassing at times to work with someone and they feel that you expect that they should know accounting like… an accountant! If you run a company that is a passion of yours, no matter the product or service, that is what I expect you to be good at. I also expect that you are self-aware to know what you are not good at.
Maybe you can relate. I am a big-picture thinker. Details are a challenge for me- not that I can’t do them, it’s just I magically expect they’ll get done or that the person I am dealing with will fill in the blanks. Over the years, when someone asks me my secret to success in business, I tell them the same thing: do what you love, hire what you don’t. There are a lot of things I don’t like to do! Or, more correctly, there are a lot of things changing so quickly I can’t keep up with the specific discipline.
The better the talent you surround yourself with, the more successful you will become. And yes, it might mean you are hiring someone way more talented than you- so check your ego. It’ll be ok. Accountants don’t want to do marketing, and vice-versa.
Build a team. When you are successful and everyone is contributing, it will be one of the greatest gifts to give to each other.