Delegate Relentlessly, With Accountability in Your Small Business

This lesson goes hand-in-hand with that of surrounding yourself with very capable people.  Once you surround yourself with exceptionally capable people, delegate to them when at all possible.  In so doing, you will extend your ability to get things done and you will appear to the outside world more capable perhaps even than you really are.  There is a trick though – you cannot simply delegate and hope that you get the results you are looking for. You must set objectives and a timetable for each and every key task you delegate, and then make the delegatee responsible for his or her performance.  If they don’t reach the objectives on an ongoing basis, you need to ask yourself whether you have the right person in the position.  If they consistently exceed the objectives, you may want to consider giving that person more responsibility, a more senior position, and/or a piece of the action.  It’s critical that you reward your strong performers – they are your biggest asset for long term, sustainable growth and success.  This same approach can and should be used for internal resources and for those to whom you outsource tasks..