How much difference the workings of a General in the modern war with the General in the past. If you've ever watched the movie "Ike: The Countdown to D Day", starring Tom Selleck as General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander at the time of a massive allied invasion of Normandy, you will be able to see that General Eisenhower worked out usually through thought, strategy and decisions made with full calculation in his war-room. This is different from the actions of General Gaius Julius Caesar or General Mark Anthony for example, which you can see in the movie series "the Rome". In the time of the Roman Empire, the Generals not only thought about strategy and making decisions, but also directly perform physical action on the battlefield. So in the Rome movie you can see General Mark Anthony who went down in battle and joined in blood. Something we can hardly imagine will happen to General Eisenhower, or General Norman Schwarzkopf, for example.
You who own the business are also General for your business. Because managing business principles is not much different from what the generals did. As a "General Business" we must also be good at strategizing, allocating resources, and making decisions to achieve goals. Competition with competitors on a limited market is also similar to fighting between troops in a particular area. And the consequences of a decision made by a business general can be either victory or defeat. Almost the same as the result of a war. Ideally, in this modern era, a business general can work like modern military generals like Eisenhower or Schwarzkopf.
For me this is still a homework that is not easy. Like an ancient Roman general, I more often participate directly in front-line battles. Although it has succeeded in limiting myself not directly involved in delivery, but until now I am still very involved in marketing and sales. This is what sometimes makes me experience a little bit out of bounds. And this I admit is very tiring. As I've been through these few weeks. We have so many challenging opportunities. Of course this is good for business. But consequently, I must often go directly in studying the needs of prospective customers, formulate the concept of solutions in the form of proposals, to make presentations and demo solutions that we offer. Sometimes this takes a lot of time. Some of these weeks I am for a few nights can only sleep 2-3 hours, and even then tomorrow must be refreshed because it must be ready to make a presentation. Well, his own presentation can sometimes take a whole day. Tired of …
This may be a beginner business syndrome like me. Actually that is now okay, because before even worse. I'm directly involved on all fronts. Starting from the process of selling, delivery process, to billing. If the term Brad Sugars, still work in the business. I then began not to get involved in the delivery, as this was the most exhausting, also among others after being inspired by the thought of Brad Sugars. But apparently in the sales area, I still often preoccupy fighting.
Delegate!
I know, you must be thinking, why did not I delegate that exhausting task? Does not his book Brad Sugars clearly say, wake up the system and delegate to the team. Even the ability to perform this delegation by many thinkers such as John C. Maxwell or Jeffrey J. Fox is considered a measure of one's leadership ability. General Eisenhower before "D Day" delegates clear authority to the head of the air force, navy and army who will be the executor of his decision. A modern General knows exactly, it is impossible for him to do everything alone, without the support of the whole team. In short, a General works by giving a delegation to the team.
But the implementation of the delegation is not as easy as the theory. I myself still keep trying. And maybe I am one of those who often fail to delegate. But it's okay, at least I'm learning. In my experience, there are some things that are not responsible for the passage of delegation:
Delegation without trust.
Delegation means giving your team the full confidence to execute. Perhaps we often "flinch" with the way our team perform the task we used to do. And the urge to take over the task is sometimes so great.
But if we do this, then the delegate we are trying to run will end. This is the temptation I most often experience. I've delegated, but I'm also annoyed, because I know I can do better. But if all the things I take over again, when is his General yes?
Unsupported delegation. This is often done by the Beginning business generals like me. Giving delegate authority with the pattern "I do not want to know" and "anyway your business". Yet as a General we must provide direction what will be achieved, why must be achieved, and how to achieve it. Implementation of tasks that are then delegated. Without direction, the team receiving the delegation will not know the direction.
Delegation without preparation. This also happens often. Delegates are provided without preparation for their own team. There is no clear organizational structure and division of tasks, no clear procedures, directly delegated authority. Even sometimes it is unclear whether his team members are ready or not. If not ready, yes must be prepared. It may be necessary to train, or re-organize his or her team first. Giving delegates without the preparation of team members is tantamount to preparing chaos.
Uncontrolled delegation. Uncontrolled delegation sometimes creates a fire in the chaff. We have created the system, prepared the person, gave direction, and gave full delegation to our team members. And all seems to run well. But suddenly your customer contact you to declare dismiss the services provided by your company, and you are confused where the wrong. This is very likely to happen if in delegation, you do not have a standard method for measuring the results achieved by your team.
Hope you can benefit from my experience. Without delegation, business is not healthy. A General is not supposed to get involved in the fighting so forget his main function to lead the troops to reach their destination. A General should spend more of his time on strategic things, thinking about the future, so that his business has a good future. Ah, I still have much to learn. May we all be able to become true General of business.