Success Is Working Yourself Out Of A Job
Posted by
Paul Alves on Wed, Aug 08, 2023 @ 03:51 PM
I just returned from a two week vacation with my wife and two boys. We saw New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, PA, Baltimore, MD, Jamestown, VA and Cape May, NJ. What a great trip. In ten years with AG Salesworks, I had never taken a full two weeks out of the office. My plan this time was to “work remotely” the second week, after all, how would the business possibly survive without me for a full two weeks? It helps that I have a great and extremely capable business partner, but still, how in the world could the team get by without me?
Well, I returned to the same highly effective team, exceeding customer’s expectations on the operations side and sales numbers above quota on the sales side. I could not have been more thrilled. My business partner and I have created a company with a team so capable, and a process so effective that the company can literally run (for short periods) without me. I’m still not ready to admit it could go on forever without my sage leadership. And I’m sure Pete will insist, while I am totally expendable, he is the glue that holds it all together. He’s probably right.
I have always viewed my job of CEO as that of a coach. I recruit smart people to join our team, provide a strategic direction, advise on process and execution, but ultimately I can not do it all. I help manage the various business units to ensure they are doing their part to help the team reach its goal, but it is the team that has to go out there and win. Seeing the AG team execute and succeed while being totally removed, even for just a couple of weeks, has helped me realize that helping to create a business that can operate as effectively, (or I’m sure some would argue even more effectively without you) might just be a great measure of success.
So my suggestion is to put your ego aside and create an organization that can operate without you. Work yourself out of a job! Maybe I’ll take a month next summer!
