Business Management: Say Goodbye to the Lone Ranger
We all know a “Lone Ranger.” They are the people who take on everything by themselves; refuse to ask for help (or even admit they may need help); have a hard time acknowledging what they don’t know; believe they are the only person who can do something and do it right; and is tired and always running on empty. The Lone Ranger is an island in the middle of the ocean; a person with no team.

There is hope! According to industry consultant Clay Nelson from Construction Services Network, LLC in Santa Barbara, CA, the time has come for remodelers to take a step back from their business, reintroduce themselves to their employees and take the time to teach them what they need to know to help the company and them succeed. TheLone Ranger needs a vacation.

What is a Vacation?

Many people operate in the work-work-work mode believing that at some point their hard work, blood, sweat and tears will pay off with success, money and fun to be shared with family and friends.

There is one problem with this theory, most Lone Rangers work so hard they a) they miss the big payoff; b) they don’t live long enough for the pay off; or c) they have no one to enjoy the pay off with because friends and families are now strangers.

Remember: no one on their last day on Earth ever said, “I wish I just worked a little more, tried a little harder, spent more time at the office.” Instead, most people say, “I wish I had spent more time with family and friends. I missed my children grow up.”

It is not too late for the Lone Ranger; there is still time to regain your life. The first step in saying goodbye to the Lone Ranger is learning a new word: TEAM. You will go nowhere without a team. And as the team leader it is your responsibility to yourself and your employees to create a team atmosphere that presents team members the opportunity to learn and grow in their profession and as leaders.

To begin moving from a Lone Ranger to a team leader, you must acknowledge that the Lone Ranger way costs your family, employees, company and yourself. You have to give up knowing all the answers and being right about everything. Finally, you have to give up not wanting to ask for the help you need.

The Six Step Self Help Program

By utilizing this six-step self help program you will be able to transform yourself from the Lone Ranger to the team leader you always wanted to be for your employees.

Step 1: Pull the plug on the Lone Ranger forever. To say good bye to the Lone Ranger you should only do what you do best and delegate the rest. Only do what you love. Recruit people who love to do the jobs you hate to do and who will do it well.

Step 2: Teach what you know to your team. If this statement makes you cringe and say, “I am already working myself to death. How do I find the time to teach?” Then your team is not big enough. You have to ask for help. You must delegate to your team and you must hold your team accountable for doing what they say they will do for the company. By working with individual team members and sharing your knowledge with them, you will create self-sufficient, reliable employees.

Step 3: Be the question instead of the answer. Have you wondered why everyone comes to you for all the answers? Most Lone Rangers create this problem. If you want employees to think for themselves, you have to ask them what they think. Do not automatically supply them with answers. Having questions and creating the answers helps people learn. Your team will never grow and learn if you do all the thinking for them.

Step 4: Be an energetic leader. As leaders, employers have to be passionate and energized about what they do and the direction the company is heading, to achieve this you must have professional and personal balance. To do this you must take care of yourself first and take time out of each day to do something you love, even if it means doing nothing in the middle of the day. To attract energetic, committed and happy team members, you, as a leader, must be energetic, committed and happy.

Step 5: Create a written plan. Lone Rangers often do what they do alone because they do not share with others their plans and no one knows where they are headed or what they want to achieve because a written plan does not exist. Let your employees know the goals and everything associated with the company that they need to do their jobs well and help the company succeed. No one can read your mind. It is imperative that you have a written plan that you share with your team and that your team understands and buys into the plan.

Step 6: Get yourself out of the way. Often we are the greatest obstacles to our own success. The need to control, the feeling that we are the only ones who can get the job done right and the fear of “what will they think of me?” if we ask for help will inhibit your success. Move yourself out of the way by: keeping your eye only on the big picture and allowing your team to manage the rest; leading and motivating your team; listening to and engaging your team in their growth; looking for your replacement within the team; and stepping away and writing the plan for what’s beyond the current objective.

Your job as a leader is to monitor your team’s progress, support them when needed and move on to what comes next. Your job is not to be the Lone Ranger that hovers and micromanages every job.

If you want to grow personally and professionally, you must become a great leader who builds phenomenal teams. To have the life and business that you want you must say goodbye to the Lone Ranger. [return to top]