While you, as the business owner, are off saving the day — also known as securing new clients, talking to the media, paying people, getting paid, keeping your promises — your team of heroes is back at the office.
They’re the ones answering the phone, filling orders, answering emails and generally hustling to get the day’s work done. Build a great team, first and foremost. And when you have built a great team, treat each member with respect.
What turns ordinary people into heroes? Feeling needed. Our team must feel needed in order to truly become heroes. So, first off, hire good people. And then, empower them to do the work you hired them to do.
Don’t fall into the trap of telling yourself that only you can do the work the right way. Your team of heroes wants to do the work the right way too. Empower them to say the right things to customers. Empower them to make decisions. Empower them to go the extra mile for a customer. Just like you would. Right?
Sometimes, let’s face it, there’s not a lot of great joy in being an employee. When we hire people to do the work and then don’t give them the tools to do the work, we steal from them the joy that it is possible to get from being an employee. Their job is to be the hero of our team, and our job is to let them be the heroes of our team.