Stop the bus! You don't have to be the driver forever.

Often I am talking to business owners and they say things like “I don’t know if I am the right person to lead the business long term”, this takes incredible self-awareness and bravery.

Sometimes, however, it just shows in the way they lead.

Some of the tell-tale signs are:

Avoiding conflict and not wanting to have the tough conversations. Starting things and not finishing them, when things are actually finished, they are a last-minute scramble and not up to the standard.

This isn’t exclusive to business owners though; it can be true for leaders who have lost the passion to lead too. So, a lot of this applies to leaders in general.

Often, they will just assume that you’re going to be driving this bus forever.

Usually, things started out where your entrepreneurial energy coupled with a smaller team size meant that you could lead as you went, you were able to get your hands dirty doing what you loved and the team followed.

If a conflict arose, you were close enough to just work your way through it. You made policy on the fly, or you just rolled up your sleeves and did the job of the person you should have been managing. They either hung around costing you time and money, or they just left.

You finished most things you started, you had to. You focused on the ones that would create an opportunity or that were the most exciting. Either way, if you didn’t finish things no-one would.

Everything was going great, momentum and energy kept things moving. The business grew and some of the team stepped up and filled in for your weaknesses. You made some key hires, that at first, kept you awake at night thinking “do I really need to pay someone that much?!”. Before you knew it, the company didn’t rely on you alone.

You don’t have to be the leader forever.

This can be a great moment or a scary one. Or both.

At the very least this could be an opportunity for you to rediscover the passion that compelled you to start in the first place. If you keep yourself at the top of the tree, and you don’t want to be there, the business will suffer. You will place a ceiling on it and it will only grow to your level of comfort.

My advice to you is to spend some time thinking about what it is that you would love to spend your time doing in the business. What lights your fire? Once you know this, share it. Bring those leaders in the business close to you and let them know. Often, they will just assume that you’re going to be driving this bus forever.

There are some key things that you will need for this to work long term. If you are going to step out of the driver’s seat the team is going to need to know who is driving, a map, a service manual and to understand how to read the road. And, quite frankly you will need all of these things too!

All of these are attainable. Every day I am working with business owners and leadership teams to do this.

Here is a high-level view of what you need:

The ideal structure of the business, this way they will know who is driving. Also, who is driving what? Not just an organisational chart, they need to know what they are accountable for, not just who they are accountable for.

A map, where we are going, what we are doing and why. As they say “if you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else”. I have written about this in the past, the plan is the first step, and then keeping that plan alive is key.

There are going to be a set of processes in the business that just need to be done a certain way, these need to be captured (a service manual), clear and up to date. This will allow them to focus on high-value tasks, not holding hands and wiping noses (unless you are running a childcare business).

Reading the road takes constant attention, meeting as a leadership team is critical. Weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly. Checking in on the driver, the map, and the service manual will ensure we are keeping things on track.

All the while, you will have been able to step into that role or function that lit your fire, or out of the role or function that you’d fallen out of love with, and the bus will have kept on course regularly arriving on schedule.

I have been there myself, now I help others. I hope this has given you some food for thought. Should you be driving the bus?

I didn't think I'd get to use a Billy Madison image in an article again for a long time, don't be like the bus driver in the movie, he clearly didn't want to be in the driver's seat and the passengers paid dearly for it.

Have fun.