“When I let go of who I am, I become who I might be” (Lao Tzu)

Whenever I say this in seminars, I can almost hear the gears shifting in peoples’ minds. It’s such a big concept and it applies to everyone who’s interested in growth, personal or business.

In this blog I want to reflect on its meaning because it goes to the heart of our fears, and the way those fears constrain our business.

It means that if we are to have a business operating at the next level, we have to first let go of how we currently define it in our minds, and in particular our role in it. We have to consciously leave the familiar and predictable, in exchange for an uncertain glory.

Why is it such a struggle to let go? One of the reasons is that we fear losing “control”. The logic is something like this: if I’m not doing it, then I don’t know how it’s being done and it will probably be done incorrectly and bring down my business. Actually, the reason it’s a struggle is that there isn’t a logic. When people say they don’t want to lose control, they don’t have a rational logic, just a fear that they struggle to articulate.

Here’s the other thing: control, like security, is an illusion. It is part of staying in business and growing, but applied too tightly, excessive control will choke the business. And while having information about the business is fundamental, you don’t have to do that at the micro level. You have to focus on regular and consistent measurement of outcomes, and only get into the inputs, if the outcome measures become of concern. Some business owners do their own invoicing and GST returns so they “know what’s going on”. And since knowledge is power, if they know what’s going on they’ve got control over it. Right?

So what happens if what that control tells them is that they’re not invoicing enough? Here’s an alternative: read the monthly accounts closely. Spend the time you would otherwise have spent on invoicing and GST returns, out there doing business.

Underlying our fear of losing control is often another fear – that our staff won’t do the job properly, or simply a lack of trust. Again, take this one out into the light. If there are grounds for that fear, you’ve got an issue with the quality of your staff. Address that issue – if the dream is bigger than the team, drop the dream or change the team. If there are no grounds for that fear, you’ve got an issue with, um, yourself. Deal with it.

If you resonate with this, grab a piece of paper and put into words what it is you’re hanging on to, and why. And then ask yourself this question: are they really convincing reasons or are they just fears?

24 April 2008