Let It Go...Let It Go!

Independent advisors at their core are entrepreneurs and what is the most frustrating thing for an entrepreneur?  Getting stuck in the grind of everyday work.  So why is it that advisors hold on to tasks that they know will ultimately make them frustrated with their practice, their role and life in general? 

If you have goals for your firm that include growing your number of clients and increasing revenue, you cannot continue to do it all.  Almost every advisor I have spoken with that made the decision to delegate and hire additional team members has said, “I only wished I had done that sooner”. 

How do you start on this journey?  First, you need to track your time over the next thirty days. Take the time to write down where you spend your time, you will most likely be surprised by what you see. 

Next categorize your time into 4 categories.

1. I love to do it and I’m great     at doing it
2. I like to do it and I’m good at     doing it
3. I don’t like to do it, but I’m     good at it
4. I don’t like it and I’m not     good at it

Working backwards from I don’t like it and I’m not good at it, you should start to delegate, or in the words of the great philosopher Elsa from the movie Frozen, Let it go.  You need to let go of the things that zap your energy, that cause you to lose focus on what you love to do and are great at.  That is where your unique ability lies.  Eventually everything that falls outside of your unique ability should be outsourced.  Outsourced to someone who has a unique ability to accomplish the things you don’t enjoy. 

It will take some time to train your new associates, but the short term pain will make for a great long term outcome for you and your firm.  You will feel reenergized and ready to focus on what you enjoy doing!