Breaking The Ceiling: Overcoming The 'Only I Can Do It' Mindset in Business

Breaking the Ceiling: Overcoming the 'Only I Can Do It' Mindset in Business

When I speak to business owners about growing or effectively leading their teams, I often hear…

“But no one can do it as well as I can.”

Sometimes, it’s an unconscious belief they don’t even realize is there; other times, it comes from previous experiences that didn’t turn out as expected.

What I know from years of taking work off my client’s plate is that the ‘No one can do it like I can’ mindset holds businesses back more than anything else.

When you are operating from that place, you are automatically putting a ceiling on your growth. You won’t be able to grow beyond your capacity to do all the work.

And if you are already maxed out and tired (and I’m guessing you are), you will stay stuck in a tug-of-war between “I want help to get all this work done” and “no one can do this work the way I do.”

With that tug of war in mind, let me ask you this…

1. How much does having the work done exactly how you would do it matter?

Sometimes, when it comes to client delivery, it matters. But I promise you there is a system/process/SOP/training that can address this concern.

More often than not, though, in the big picture of your business, your way vs. a team member’s way has minimal impact on the result.

2. What if someone else could do it better?

In my experience, with most things that make sense for a business owner to get off of their plate, a fresh perspective from someone NOT also juggling all the responsibilities of the CEO improves the thing you thought only you could do correctly.

You may need to invest some time in documenting a system or communicating your desired outcome and the impact of the work, but that is time well spent when it comes to hitting your growth goals. 

Not to mention changing that maxed-out and tired thing we talked about above.

I'd love to connect if you’d like to talk through some examples of where and how I’ve seen this work with my clients.

Meet Kiva Slade - the Founder and CEO of The 516 Collaborative. With a unique background in high-power politics on Capitol Hill and sixteen years as a homeschooling mama, Kiva found her calling in the online business world as a trusted guide for entrepreneurs looking to build the business of their dreams.

Kiva's work began behind the scenes, orchestrating the back end of businesses and managing teams. But her inner data diva couldn't help but notice that small businesses needed help harnessing the power of data for growth. So she and her team set out to uncover and tidy up the data required to enable clients to grow their businesses confidently and easily.