You’ve probably seen a photo that describes the difference between the boss and the leader. You know, the one where the boss gets pulled by his people, and the leader is pulling them forward. That photo is great, but it’s not complete. There’s a 3rd group, those who do everything alone.
But why aren’t they shown in the photo? Because they didn’t have anyone to remind them of the photo shoot, they missed it. Of course, a joke, yet not so far away from the truth.
That’s why this article might be the most important on our blog yet. Yes, even more than the one about escaping the abyss behind the billable hours. They go hand in hand.
Now we must build some credibility because self-defence advice from a martial artist is more valuable than advice from a random keyboard warrior. And Filip and Gio are seasoned business owners who helped many other businesses scale.
So it’s true when they say that delegation is essential to scale. And it’s also common sense because 10 wolves can hunt elks. One wolf eats rabbits and mice. But why do people avoid delegation if they know that’s the right path? Because sometimes the right direction stays hidden in toxic productivity, lack of trust, and strategy.
Start revealing your right path by listening to 2 CEOs talk about the importance and benefits of delegation on Maoio YouTube Channel.
Or keep reading if you want to stumble upon seemingly irrelevant micro-stories and still learn to do more in less time without burning out.
The reasons why people avoid delegation
Before we move into reasons why those who want to grow must delegate, we’ll address the 2 main reasons for avoiding passing on responsibility to someone else. By the end of this blog, you should see clearly that both were just illusions.
The reasons for doing everything on your own forever and being stuck in business:
- “I can’t afford it.”
- “No one can do it as I do.”
“I can’t afford it.”
This mindset is partially responsible for your current situation because while you keep billing for your hours, you’ll never be able to afford anything. If you don’t turn down the clock, you’ll never become more profitable. Yes, you can always raise your prices, but that won’t add extra hours to your day. You’ll still have 24 hours. And you’ll still spend most of them working. And you still won’t be able to invest in your business.
But now, get ready for a seemingly irrelevant micro-story.
There once was a girl who hated geography because she couldn’t understand maps. Occasionally, we had to present our knowledge on the map. The girl would always fail.
No. The girl wasn’t stupid. She would stand too close to the map so she wouldn’t see the whole picture. Her mind would get overwhelmed by all the colours, letters, and symbols. She’d focus on reading everything. So she’d always fail, and she’d get frustrated.
Until one day, a teacher told her to take 2 steps back.
The world opened in front of her. She hasn’t become a master of geography, but she never failed to find a city, river, or anything on the map again. Why? Because her POV changed.
She went from “I can’t waste a second. I must scan everything and find the X” to “If I move back, I’ll see the whole picture and know where to look.”
You see, that’s the secret. Even if it seems like delegating your responsibilities costs you some resources, it usually pays off in every way. More about that later. And we’ll bring the girl back into the story.
Now we need to shatter another illusion.
“No one can do it as I do.”
In a tiny village far away from the nearest hospital lived an exceptional doctor…
He’d never get sick and never needed help. He once had flu and went through it alone. And it’s not that other people didn’t want to help or at least try to. When he saved a kid by doing the Heimlich manoeuvre, everyone wanted to learn how to do it.
But the doctor said: “Don’t worry, I’ll always be here. And no one can do it as I do anyway.”
3 days later…
He choked to death in the middle of the village square. Everyone was there to watch his face change colours. No one could understand his mumbling. The father of a kid he saved days before tried to mimic the Heimlich manoeuvre, but he couldn’t do it as well as the doctor. So his life, and all his knowledge, vanished just like that.
And if he shared a part of his burden, people around him would have been able to help him.
In a way, the lack of delegation is a business suicide. But slow and usually agonizing. So don’t be like the doctor from the story and seek help when it becomes too late. Even if you’re the best in your field, other people can help more than you think. Because…
Changes happen – you must be ready!
It’s normal to feel stuck at times. It means you need help. People and companies can’t grow forever. At least not alone…
Do you know a story about four tall trees? Of course, you don’t. We just made it up. But listen…
Four tall trees were growing on one particularly windy hill. One tree grew a bit further from the other three. It said it needed all the space to spread its branches and grow freely. And since the wind seemed to blow from the east most of the year, the tree adjusted. No matter how strong the wind would get, the Lone Tree would endure it without a problem.
At least if the wind was coming from the east.
The rest of the trees grew close together. They spread their branches and roots in different directions. They were ready for strong winds coming from any side. The Lone Tree mocked them for that.
Until the storm from the north came one day. It wasn’t some once-in-a-lifetime kind of storm. The winds weren’t that strong. But when the storm passed, only three tall trees stood on the hill.
Why?
Because The Lone Tree couldn’t adapt to the change, its strategy took it in the wrong direction. The same is with businesses. Changes happen all the time, and if you insist on doing everything alone, you won’t be able to act on time.
It’s vital to understand that even the masters of their craft can’t make it alone. As Filip and Gio said, finding people to cooperate with is the foundation for scaling. Partnering with someone is the best way to make it to the next level. It lets both sides focus on better projects because they can solve more problems.
Let’s take Maoio Marketing Takeover as an example. We have different services, such as marketing consulting and copywriting. People take them as separate services, but those who want to scale quickly don’t have time to find more teams to take care of different marketing aspects. So they let us take over their entire marketing. It frees their time. They can focus on growing their businesses instead of keeping them alive by doing everything alone. Delegating part of their business opens space to scale when you find trustworthy partners to take care of their responsibilities.
Delegation is a process based on understanding
But one of the reasons why many businesses struggle to grow even after they decide to delegate is expecting immediate results. It takes time to realize what aspects you should pass on, to whom, and why. Of course, having someone to help you with the strategy is the way to get around that problem. But not everyone wants help, so they experience trial and error.
And it’s not only about understanding the business needs. You need to understand your team and your contractors. Everyone included should share the same business culture and want to move in the right direction. Yet that’s not easy to find, so businesses sometimes make horrible mistakes.
Yes. Delegation is crucial for scaling. But you can’t take on more projects before you’re 100% sure you can deliver the results. More people in your team doesn’t mean everyone works well together. And even worse, it doesn’t mean that everyone can do everything.
Getting a project manager is one of the best business decisions. They keep everything organized and let you focus on growth instead of working. But adding a project manager to your team doesn’t mean you got an account manager, WordPress master, content writing expert, etc. Dropping all the responsibility on the back of one person doesn’t count as delegating anything. Yes, it helps you directly. But it hurts your business because even the best people make mistakes when they’re overwhelmed.
According to Filip, great project managers can handle up to 5 projects without hurting the quality of work. In other business aspects, you need to be even more careful. You can’t have one developer who covers 14 different projects if you want to focus on high-end web development. People have their limits. After all, that’s why anyone delegates their stuff. It’s weird that some companies still think they can take on 76 projects just because they have someone. That’s not true. Just don’t take projects you can’t deliver. Delegation is limited and takes time.
Remember: “Do what you do best, pay for the rest.”
But regardless of all the limits, delegation leads to better projects, higher revenue, and growing your network. It’s even possible to be contractor-based if you pick the right people.
It’s more profitable than hiring everyone in-house and lets you take on more projects as long as you can find experienced contractors. We’ve seen numerous businesses grow thanks to proper delegation. We’re proof that a small team can reach great heights. So if you think you need an investor to scale your business, think again. Delegation might be the only thing you need.
