Small business owners – Admit this: At times, your ego won’t let other people to be better, smarter, more talented, and wealthier than you.

Your ego can help you becoming a tough competitor. However, most of the times, your ego damages your business potential. One of the business issues where your ego will determine the outcome is employee recruitment.

Two stories (anecdotes) that has helped me to achieve less-of-me in my business

I remember the stories (more anecdotes than stories, actually) from two of my dearest person: My wife and my dad.

When she was in college, my wife once discussed with her friend about competing with the “intelligent peeps” in their classes. Her friend told my wife, “Don’t worry – Despite our shortcomings, we will hire those smart guys to work in our companies.”

Another one is coming from my dad. He told me that in his early tenure in the company he is still working with today, he once asked the owner of a company he works for about how to deal with an issue. Caught him off-guard, his boss replied, “If I know the answer, I wouldn’t hire you and your colleagues.”

What kind of employee would you like to attract to your business?

From the two (out of many) stories or anecdotes I’ve heard, I learn that being a business owner is not about being the smartest people in your company. Instead, being a business owner is all about mastering the art of hiring and managing people who are smarter and more talented than you and I.

Having you and me, the business owners, as the smartest guy in our companies can’t get the business run like a well-oiled machine. Instead, you and I will be burdened with decision making and management issues that will “strangle” us and “lock” us in our office 18 hours a day, 7 days a week – Transforming us into control freaks with the inability to delegate.

What’s more, with our policy of being the smartest guy in our companies, you could end up hiring employees who have sub-par performance, resulting in more headaches for you.

Being the center of attention is gratifying at times, but being the central of your business universe 24/7, especially if your business is thriving, will drain the energy out of your life to your business, in such a way that if your business failed, you would too.

That is the worst possible case of entrepreneurship and business ownership.

You and I want success in our endeavours, in every sense. Those successes will become reality if we realise that there are people who can do things better than us. Hiring those people will let your business thrive and allow you to delegate well.

So, my advice is to have less-of-you in your current business and more-of-you in something you are passionate about. If you business is your passion, try to involve less in day-to-day decision making while involve more in directing your business and employees to improve your business and explore new markets.

Remember, your employees are your greatest assets.

Ivan Widjaya
Small business HR policy
Image by Yodel Anecdotal.

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