The 3 Best Things That Happened After I Fired Myself
Sometimes in life, it is important to recognise when it is time to let go and step back from the helm. I have seen it time and time again when a business is outgrowing the capabilities of the founder and they hold on for dear life, thereby stagnating the business and curtailing its potential.
A great example of this is a creative agency I used to be a shareholder in. The CEO was exceptionally talented, but also extremely arrogant and pig headed. He talked about how he wanted a big company and the growth aspirations he had, unfortunately he could never see when it was time to step aside and let someone with the required skills take over the day to day. Ironically today, his main product is teaching others’ businesses strategy and how to scale!
Back in 2014, the Pure SEO team consisted of about 10 people, we had recently won an award which was celebrated on the cover of NZ Business magazine; on the outside everything looked rosy. In truth, I was floundering. I had built a good business, but it was not a great business. Fortunately, I recognised this and fired myself from the day to day management and brought in a General Manager to take a lot of the responsibility. The results enabled me to build a great company that I can say, hand on heart, is the best SEO agency in New Zealand.
1. Play to your strengths
I love people, creative thinking and creating genuine relationships. With Pure SEO, we had grown to a stage where we needed someone that was good at detail, systems and structure – definitely not me!
I therefore hired precisely for these attributes and brought in our first General Manager. It is a very liberating feeling delegating tasks that you struggle with to someone who is built for a role like that.
2. Recognise when you are struggling
People talk about mental health a lot these days. Back then, it wasn’t such an open topic. I had been struggling with the pressure of realising that I wasn’t the best person for the job, I was making mistakes and I was bringing that home with me. As soon as I had transitioned from the role, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from me. Pressure, stress and overwhelm tend to creep up on you slowly, oftentimes not recognised until it becomes a problem. Recognising it and dealing with it had a profoundly positive impact on my mental health.
3. Get over your ego
As entrepreneurs, we seem to fluctuate between having an inflated ego and suffering with crippling imposter syndrome. We are wearing different masks all the time; boss, confidant, father, husband, successful entrepreneur, burnt out leader…
The truth is we are just like everyone else. Our skillset may be commercially valuable and therefore rewarded by society, yet there are much more important jobs out there that contribute so much more.
Stepping back from the day to day really allows you appreciate the amazing, talented people who work with or around you. It takes all sorts and that’s what makes the world so wonderful.
2014 was both an amazing and a difficult time for me. I had to step back, recognise and embrace my shortcoming – not always easy to do when people are feeding into the successful entrepreneur whirlwind.
On reflection, firing myself was probably the second most significant milestone in my businesses success; the first, the day I started it!
