Part two: Attacking weaknesses and growing our businesses
Part two:
If you joined us last post, you got an exclusive look at Rock Solid’s early days. It was a whirlwind of rapid growth, intense (fire hose) team training, and plenty of humility! I pulled back the curtain and shared that Rock Solid was built on the very model we now offer our clients!
I covered Stage 1 – unaffectionately known as “fire season” - of our 3 stages of growth and finally, we made it to:
This new team thing is working!!
I will never forget the first time I had a real weekend in those early days of Rock Solid! We drove through Glacier Park, and I didn’t work for 2 days straight. It truly felt miraculous! Monday morning was a dream - I was actually excited to return to work!
At this stage, and with all the team's help, we now have processes, templates, and systems—most of which are in working order, too! I’m not 100% certain how it happened or is happening, but this is a much nicer wave and feels intriguing enough to continue the ride and see where we land.
We landed on the island of unsustainable growth. Things were moving along nicely, and the direction seemed right, most of the time. However, the growth we were experiencing highlighted our many areas of weakness.
It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, but only because of one factor:
I WAS NOT ALONE! I had a VA and a bookkeeper.
Please don’t hear that I had a task rabbit who was still carrying her firehose around and putting out fires. Not at all!
I had a right-hand person who sometimes knew me better than I knew myself. She could see my blind spots, call them out, and/or proactively alleviate a potential fire before it ignited.
I had a collaborator, which is, to this day, one of my favorite things. My decision-fatigue was going away, and my problem-solving skills were returning!
Together, we adjusted our processes as needed, solidified our current systems, and built more to continue growing!
We handled the day-to-day operations AS A TEAM!
The repeat problems we noticed were the things we addressed first.
We began building the onboarding process, complete with guides, helpful tricks and tips, and questionnaires to give our teams every advantage we could imagine, and communication support guides.
We created a kickoff process to ensure our teams had a set of expectations and a framework to create forward momentum from day one.
I could go on and on, but the point I want you to hear loudly is
I wouldn't have made it out of Stage One without building a team!
Yes, the team was small, and I was learning to be a leader each day. We didn’t have clearly defined roles, but we had passion for our work and a strong personality alignment. We hired well, believed in our VAs, strived to work with only the best clients, and trusted each other!
Our weaknesses, whether my initial leadership skills or our systems and processes, didn’t scare us away but rather stirred us up to grow and build the best of the best at everything we did at Rock Solid.
Now… don’t get me wrong - my personality is well-suited for this! I’ve got my eye on running the Dallas Cowboys organization, remember? LOL!! When I’m given an assignment or get my heart set on something, I’ve got all the resolve in the world, and my tenacity knows no bounds.
BUT…
I’m still only one person with a limited education --in the wrong field for this particular assignment.
AND….
No matter how good I am at anything, there are still only 24 hours in each day. I simply can’t do it all alone!
Building a team is not just about handing off tasks I don’t like to do or carving a few hours a day out of my schedule for coffee dates and lounging by the pool.
It’s about success.
It’s about working smarter, not harder.
It’s about realizing that I can only help so many people by myself. BUUUTTTT if we grow… If I get some like-minded professionals whose personalities fit well with mine and what we’re doing, we can help so many more.
Friends… we lose sight of this so easily.
We get hung up on setting goals, KPIs, flowcharts, bank statements, etc. THOSE THINGS ARE IMPORTANT. Please don’t misunderstand me.
But let’s not forget to ALWAYS put first things first!
When I started RS, my family was in a very different financial situation than we are today. We desperately needed a shift, but the shift couldn’t come in the bank account first, and then expect my mindset and heart to align with the purpose and mission. My mindset and my heart heard the assignment before my brain could possibly conceive that this might be a real possibility.
And the assignment was to make a way for others… it couldn’t happen if I didn’t get help!
Once again, teamwork and alignment
sustained growth and brought us to:
At this stage, we have a fully functioning team of specialists in each area who are genuinely passionate about their work. Their hearts are in the right place, and they enjoy what they do. This is essential—absolutely vital… to continued growth.
Yes, we have systems in place. …and yes, they always need an occasional shift or upgrade. Our processes are strong and have proven time and again to be incredible tools in team matching and building. We collaborate well together and still don’t run away from any weaknesses that may show up.
Teamwork really does make this kind of dream work!
We can't go much deeper into Stage 3 without discussing one of my favorite things to develop - leadership!
A mentor-friend once asked me, “Why would you get an MBA when you could simply hire one?” and remembering his question always reminds me of this great quote by Eileen Bistrisky:
Building a team is sure to shake you to your core at least once, haha! For me, leadership is a support role. If you’re doing it right, nobody should be able to recognize who the “boss” is! Let me share some uplifting tips to help you grow as a leader!
Vow to yourself that you’ll commit to growing in this area, no matter the stage of business you’re in. Keep it at the top of your priority list. It’s more important to your business and life success than you'll ever imagine!
Next blog post, we're (hopefully) going to wrap this up! We'll talk about work-life balance – yes, it's a real thing, I promise! – as well as how to determine what you can hand off and HOW to do it successfully! We'll even touch on some common obstacles to building a team and how to overcome them!
And no, I haven’t forgotten the gifts I promised last post! Next blog post, we’re giving you free access to one of the best team-building tools I’ve ever seen—you’ll want to keep this gem handy for when the time is right!
See you soon,
Tracy
