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Are You a Victim of Your Own Success?

Written on October 7, 2008 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Management

stress You’ve made it! You’ve arrived! You’ve reached that next level of success! You’ve achieved your dream!

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But you’re swamped. Now, you have a seemingly endless list of things-to-do. And it all just keeps coming. Minute after minute, day after day, week after week. It’s sheer chaos.

You find yourself busier than ever. You’re more successful than ever. But are you happier than ever?

It seems that you’re a victim of your own success – too much to do, too many clients, too many constituents. So what can you do about it?

Congratulate yourself

Take a deep breath and a little pause. Enjoy it for a bit!

Get away from it all for a day

We know … you’re too busy. But here’s the thing – you’re too busy not to get away because, on your day away, you’re going to contemplate. What’s most important? What’s least important?

After you’ve thought about those two things:

Hire an assistant, outsource, partner, joint venture … you get the idea

Delegate – in some way, shape or form – those things that aren’t most important.

You might be asking, “Can I afford to hire someone?” But you’re asking the wrong question. The question really is, “Can I afford not to?”

Because the most important things – the people who are most important for you to spend time with, the projects that only you can and should do – will get pushed aside by the less important things if you don’t take this step.

Set the expectations for the people in your life

You need to establish boundaries for all your people. You may set certain times when you’re available to employees, vendors, and even customers. We think customers can’t be trained, but even they can.

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george In one of my early businesses, my second biggest customer was constantly calling with demands for immediate service. Finally, I presented them with an option – they could work within our time frame for the price we negotiated or I could offer them quicker turnaround for a higher price. They chose the better price!

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Finding your model

Now you’re only working on the most important things and you’ve communicated your boundaries to the most important people in your life. You’re ready to do those things you do in the most efficient way possible.

So let’s look for a model. Think about a manufacturer’s assembly line with products coming down it. What are your products?

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marylynn For us, it is shows to produce. Articles to write. E-mails to return. People to reach out to. Products to create. Services to deliver.

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Your production cycle may flow over an hour, a day, a week, or a month. Think about all of the important things you do – that’s your product – and engineer your processes to move that product down the line in the most efficient manner possible.

Engineer your processes

What is the best way to do it? Think about it logically. Step back and look at it again. Walk yourself through the whole process, step-by-step as it exists today. Now, start looking for ways to save little bits of time.

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george One of the guest speakers for my class became a billionaire by turning his little business into a Fortune 500 company. One of his secrets was finding ways to get more done with the same people. For example, they discovered a way to change how they labeled packages for shipment. It saved them 55 seconds. That’s time they could spend on something else!

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So if you find yourself a victim of your own success, start with effectiveness – make sure you’re doing the right things. Then work on efficiency – doing those things the right way.

Doing the right things the right way … before you know it, you’ll be an even bigger success without being victimized by it!

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Next time, we ask, “Are you afraid of success?” Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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(Image by brainloc)

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The Billionaire and the Batboy: What Warren Buffett Learned from Eddie Bennett

Written on May 20, 2008 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Business, Decision Making, Leadership, Management, Money, Success Stories

Warren Buffett, the great investor who is the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and now the richest person in the world according to Forbes, told a story about a batboy in Berkshire Hathaway’s 2002 annual report.

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The batboy was Eddie Bennett, who was 19 years old in 1919. He began his career with the Chicago White Sox, who went to the World Series that year.

The next year, Eddie moved to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He had the Midas touch. They also won their league title that year. Two in a row for Eddie.

But once again, Eddie saw a better opportunity. So he joined the Yankees in 1921. They won their first pennant ever. Eddie knew he was in the right place so he stayed put. The Yankees won five American League titles in the next seven seasons.

What did this mean to Eddie? He made as much during the World Series as he made all year. So by choosing the right team with whom to associate, he doubled his income.

And he became perhaps the best known batboy in baseball history.

5 lessons Eddie Bennett teaches us

#1 – Sometimes it pays to switch teams.
If you’re with a team that doesn’t look like a bigg winner, and you see a better one, then go for it!

#2 – Don’t have a scarcity mentality.
People who think like this can’t work with others because they don’t think there’s enough to share. Eddie shows us that we may actually make more money BY working with others than we could on our own.

#3 – You don’t have to be the star to be a star.
Eddie became famous in his own right. He’s written about just like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. In fact, he’s the first of that great trio that we’ve blogged about!

#4 – Every job is important.
A supporting role is just as important as the starring role. Eddie knew his place and the importance of what he did. He knew that if he did a good job in his role, other people would thrive in theirs. And he would reap the benefits along with them!

#5 – He had a passion for what he did.
The fans knew it and the players knew it. They respected him for the role that he played. It’s reported that Eddie and Babe Ruth became good friends because they were both at the top of their game.

What Warren Buffett learned from Eddie

In the annual report we referenced earlier, Warren Buffett describes himself as the batboy for Berkshire Hathaway. He turns the heavy-hitting over to the leaders of the businesses in which he invests. He plays a supporting role so they can step up to the plate and hit home runs.

It’s a lesson in management and leadership – give your people the tools they need when they need them and watch them succeed bigg!