Why’s it so very hard letting go, when you’re leading?

If you’ve never had a teenager scream in your face “I HATE You!”…
Then you’ve probably not had the privilege of nurturing a toddler to young adulthood.

Letting go of our control in their lives tends to be so very hard. Emotionally.
Even though we know that, genetically, it’s critical.

And try managing them.
Well, which teenager (including you) d’you know who wants to be managed?
Good luck with that!

And this process plays out in our businesses…
No matter what role you’re playing. (And all of us have it in us to lead in life!)

Time after time Advisers and Financial Planners say to me…
“I don’t enjoy managing people.”

Well, thank goodness for that!
Because people HATE being managed.

But they do want leaders whom they’d love to follow.
They do want leaders who will invest in discovering their brilliance…
And then magnifying that brilliance.

They do want leaders who respect their 86 billion neurons of genius firing in their head. And who use that genius to do more than complete projects and tasks.

What they don’t want is the typical small business model of leadership…
The Genius With 1,000 Little Helpers.

(You know, the model where the only place that important strategic decisions flow from… is the mind of the leader(s).)

What they do want is someone who asks them their views and input into really important stuff. Someone who can let go of their perspective that only leaders are there to make all mission-critical decisions.

How can you spot where ‘Letting Go’ is a problem in a firm?
Just watch what happens in a Team Meeting.
Just watch whose voice is heard most.
Just watch to see if each 86 billion-neuron brain in that room is put to meaningful use.

The Genius with 1,000 Little Helpers model is the most common in this profession.

And it’s the single most-prevalent behaviour that paralyses the development of the next generation of leaders.

It paralyses a firm’s long-term future.
It leaves little alternative but to sell a client community to the highest bidder.

Yep.
Letting go is so very hard.
Particularly when you’re leading.

And yet…
It’s foundational to this profession’s healthy survival and thriving future!