self-starters | The Barefoot Spirit

7 Rules for Successful Delegation

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 18:00:23 +0000

One of the hardest thing for any Type-A business owner to do successfully is to delegate. Some believe, “If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself!” They say, “Nobody can do it like I can do it.” And this may be correct, but sooner or later you must delegate. There’s just too much to do in a growing business, you simply can’t do it all yourself.

It’s certainly a compromise, but we believe successful delegation is a two-way street. The owner must accept less than “perfect” performance. The employee or contracted services individual must move out of their comfort zone, develop new habits, and accept new responsibilities.

Here’s what we have learned after years of experience, most of which was painful. Perhaps it will help you delegate more successfully.

Look for Extrapolation Learners. People who can extrapolate the underlying principle from an example and apply that principle to a new example they haven’t seen before are good candidates for delegation. Many people don’t bother looking for principles since they can get cut-and-paste examples for pretty much everything they need on line.

You will find many who say, “Like what?” to everything you ask, even when they have seen an example of the same principle in operation before. Avoid delegating to these people. Delegate only to people who glean overarching principles from the examples given in trainings and their own experience.

Seek Integrity. When people do what they say, don’t drop assignments you haven’t regularly asked about, and voluntarily keep you posted on the status of their projects, they are good candidates for delegation. Look for people who take responsibility to get the job done and don’t blame others.

Avoid delegating to people who say, “They never got back to me” when you have to ask, “What happened on that project?” because they didn’t voluntarily inform you. Don’t delegate to people who have demonstrated they will only accept the minimum level of responsibility required of them in order to get paid.

Look for Coachability. When people can take and apply constructive criticism, look for policies and procedures that can help them get their job done better and faster, and show steady improvement, they are excellent candidates for delegation.

Avoid candidates who take constructive professional critique personally or don’t seek experienced help because they so desperately want to appear self-sufficient and all-knowing.

Seek Self-Starters. When people see the big picture and, without being asked, initiate appropriate action, mitigate a problem, or improve an unstable situation, they are great candidates for delegation. They still require some supervision, but are less likely to require micro-management.

Avoid delegating to people who have already demonstrated a need for constant supervision and vigilant oversight.

Look for Mistake Learners. Accept that mistakes will be made. Look for candidates who learn from them, candidates that see them as an opportunity to get to the bottom of what happened, candidates who write new documents to prevent a reoccurrence, and candidates who can improve your company’s policies and processes.

Avoid those who hide or try to cover up their mistakes, or blame others (finger pointers). Seek to rid your company of those people who continue to make the same mistakes.

Provide Incentives. Create a bonus structure for the folks you delegate to. Make sure you both agree on the metrics. Use your new bonus plan for just one year, so in subsequent years you can improve the requirements as you discover and fine tune what’s necessary to achieve the results you are looking for.

Give Regular Reviews. Make the reviews more frequent in the beginning to avoid the formation of bad habits or misconceptions. Always come back to the principles. Always remind the candidate about the importance of sales, growth, and profitability. Go over the decisions they have made, validate the correct ones and offer advice on the ones that need improvement.

Delegation is an imperfect art, but you can mitigate the risk of failure by looking for the attributes in others that will give you confidence and peace of mind. You must train your candidates on the process knowledge and operating principles necessary to take on the responsibilities involved. Then you must give them clear goals and regular reviews – and let them do it their way.

We like to say, “When the cement is wet, you can move it with a trowel. When it gets hard, you’ll need a jackhammer.” So, overkill on orientation, make sure they know where the money comes from (sales!), and confirm that your candidate thoroughly understands the principles that will guide their decision making. Then accept the inevitability that they will make mistakes, and they will make decisions that will be different that yours. Some of those decisions may even be better!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Startups Must Hire Employees with the Entrepreneurial Mentality

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 19 May 2016 17:00:08 +0000

Hiring people who are paid, whether or not they produce, has been the death of many startups. In the early days of growing your business with limited time, resources, and funds, you don’t want to hear, “I was there, pay me!” Paying for attendance, instead of performance, will quickly drain your budget and cause you to miss precious opportunities. You simply don’t have the luxury to pay people for attendance alone, even if you wanted to.

When you are looking to hire new employees, look for folks who are self-starters and problem solvers. Look for people who have worked on a project with a team, preferably as the team leader. Even better, look for experience operating a small business. In other words, look to hire people who think like an entrepreneur. These are the ones who have the mindset to think and act beyond their assigned duties and look at the whole picture.

One of the biggest challenges your startup faces is a clear definition of the jobs that are required to make it run successfully. When you start out, you simply don’t know what is required of you and your fledgling company to satisfy the needs of your clients. You find out as you go along. Likewise, your employees must be flexible and look for every opportunity to contribute, whether or not it is in their job description.

Just like a tennis player with knees bent, ready to spring into action in whatever direction required to return the ball, no matter where the ball comes from, your startup team has to be flexible and prepared to get the job done. They must also be looking for the ball! You can’t afford to have folks who don’t think sales is their responsibility. They have to have a financial interest in sales in order to understand the most important word to any startup, “urgency!” They have to know that somehow their income and job security is based on that next sale – and do all they can to make it happen, and keep it happening!

To reinforce this idea, you as the owner must be ready to take a smaller slice of a larger pie. You must be willing to share in the upside and offer quarterly bonuses based on sales, growth, and profitability. If you must pay guarantees or base salaries to salespeople, make it an advance on commissions. Do whatever you can to send the message that their income, security, bonuses, and benefits all come from sales.

When you hire entrepreneurial thinkers you have employees who are willing to bet their income on your success, folks who believe in what you are doing, and believe they can be instrumental at some level in making it happen. To support this idea, you must present them with a comprehensive orientation period, thorough training, and access to continued learning resources. Show them how they can best contribute to the needs and ultimate success of your company by investing their skills with the knowledge that they will benefit when the company grows and becomes more profitable.

Wouldn’t you rather have “investors” than “employees” anyway? Think of what it will do for your startup company culture! Think teamwork, focus, and commitment. Think of how it will reduce your need to supervise and micro-manage your people, allowing you the time and attention to focus on more pressing matters. We like to say, “In a startup there is no room for passengers. If you’re not steering, rowing, or bailing, you are swimming because you are no longer on board!”

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Startups Must Hire Employees with the Entrepreneurial Mentality appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.