I was on vacation when I found out my new marketing director had ignored my instructions.

She’d been there less than a week.

Before leaving, I explained exactly what I wanted her to do: research our niche, read the background material, and meet with the team.

I asked her not to draft the marketing plan until I returned.

Although she’d been in the field for two decades, I was convinced she couldn’t create a plan until she met with me personally.

When I called to check in, I found out she’d already delivered twenty pages, and they were about to hold a team meeting to review it.

I was upset. I wanted to see it first. Besides, team meetings are expensive. 

Here was more proof that if I wanted things done my way, I had to be there.

I told her to stop working on it until I returned. 

When I got back from vacation and read the plan, I was dumbfounded. 

It was excellent.

I couldn’t have written it myself.

My Conditions

I wasted time and energy on this while I should have been enjoying my vacation. 

Plus I almost scared away our newest hire.

But there’s something even more important which escaped me at the time:

I’d hired a senior leader for her expertise, then attached a condition: she had to do it my way. 

It never occurred to me that my way might not be the best way.

What’s Possible

Because my way had worked so far, I assumed it was necessary. 

This blind spot even affected how I thought about growing my company.

I desperately wanted to own a business that didn’t depend on me. But complex assignments, expensive experts, and my constant oversight had built our reputation. 

I assumed growing meant more of the same, with me still making sure we got it right.

As much as I wanted to grow, delegating and standardizing felt threatening. 

So I kept trying to make my old model work better and concluded a business that ran without me was unrealistic.

I confused what was possible with what was possible with my existing model of reality.

Results

My part is strategy, resource allocation, and hiring. When I do that well, the people I hire own the execution. Then I evaluate results, and coach for performance.

My standards don’t have to drop. 

I can be clear about the results and standards I expect without prescribing every step.

If something you want seems impossible, ask whether it’s out of reach, or just out of reach with the way you’re trying to get there.

I wanted a business that could run without me.

But when someone showed me what that could look like, I told her to stop.