The teen in the driver’s seat
As I sat anxiously in the passenger seat on the ride home from the grocery store, my oldest at the wheel, I was struck with this thought:
Though this was not her first drive, I find I’m becoming more anxious and a tad overbearing [insert massive sarcasm here] on our drives.
I’m finding it harder to bite my tongue with each drive. When I offer suggestions, she assures me that she’s got it. She’s a good driver – spoken in a tone only a mom (or someone that spends lots of time with teenage girls) could possibly understand…
Yesterday it hit me – As she inches closer to getting her license on not needing me in the car with her, I’m having a hard time letting go…
Here are 3 ways teaching a teen to drive is like hiring in your business:
#1 Rules of the ‘Road’
Allowing your kiddo behind the wheel requires the understanding of some basic rules of safety and traffic – even before leaving the driveway. I would never willingly hand over the keys to my teen before she had a basic understanding of the driving rules or before practicing the task a ton.
The same applies to hiring: There must be ‘rules’ for your new hire to follow. If you just hire someone without giving them any direction or paraments, it’s likely you’ll waste money and time. Trust me when I say I’ve made this mistake in the past.
If I had known about the D3 or the D.A.D. Principles before my first hire, it would have saved a ton of heartache on my part and on those I hired in the early stages of my business.
Wanna know how the D.A.D. Principle can help you in your business during summer and beyond?
It’s part of the 21 Strategies for a Successful Summer Training Bundle. And through today, June 10, you can get the entire bundle for just $19.
After today, you can still grab the bundle at its regular price of $97. With this bundle, you’ll learn to work-LESS, stress-LESS, and guilt-LESS this summer and beyond!
Grab the bundle today
These ‘rules’ inside your business AKA systems or repeatable recipes you create before you delegate, allow someone else to perform the task as you’d like to have that task completed.
The ‘rules’ for each task cover the basics such as:
- Knowing when to start a task and when it’s complete;
- The tools or resources that are necessary to complete the task;
- Why the task is important for them and their position they fill;
- How completing the task contributes to your clients and your business;
- How the work will be measured or evaluated
Systems have not always come easy to me. As a creative, I fought my mentors for years claiming that having systems would stifle the creative process.
Guess what???
They did just the opposite and now I’m a total convert. I wholeheartedly believe that as business owners, content creators, and parents, having systems in place can actually open up more space for creativity.
Wanna know more about creating ‘rules’ for your business?
You can learn how Systems Expert, Marina Darlow, suggests creating and implementing systems inside your business – this lesson is waiting for you inside the Successful Summer Bundle 🙂 Grab your copy today.
#2 Letting Go Is Hard To Do
Hovering, looking over shoulders, or being a backseat driver is not great from morale
At some point, we have to trust that we’ve taught our teen drivers or our staff enough to complete their tasks without us hovering. I’ll openly admit that I’ve hovered a time or three [hundred]…
What’s the point of #1 if we don’t allow our teens or our staff to ‘drive’ solo at some point?
I’m discovering that the closer Sophie gets to her license (about 3 weeks), the harder I’m trying to hold on to my little girl. I’m also discovering that holding on is causing tension, anxiety, and is straining our relationship. I don’t want to let go. It’s hard, yet I know it needs to be done.
The same can be said for your staff. Prolonging your hovering and preventing your staff from working independently of you (as hard as it seems) will ultimately have negative consequences on you, your staff, and your business.
Letting go is hard. Letting go is a choice. Letting go is part of life and it’s a lesson included inside the Successful Summer Strategies Bundle 🙂
#3 Slowing down to speed up
Though it seems counterintuitive, we often need to slow down in business and in life to assess – the traffic, our strategy, look for the opportunities and pitfalls, plan an alternate route, etc.
Being able to see past the ‘traffic’ we may be stuck in is an important quality to instill in our young drivers and our staff. Teaching them to have vision, foresight, become problem-solvers, use their critical thinking skills, and teach them how to trust in themselves and their abilities requires that we slow down before we can speed up.
Can you guess what I’ll share next?
If you guessed that there’s a lesson about this very topic inside our Successful Summer Strategies Training Bundle, you’d be correct. And today’s the final day to grab the entire bundle for only $19.
Summer is here and it’s time to craft a plan that allows us to work-LESS, stress-LESS, and guilt-LESS. It’s time to create your most Successful Summers yet!
Cheers,
Yong
P.S. If you’ve skipped to the bottom, here’s your speedy recap: Today is the final day to grab the Successful Summer Strategies Bundle for only $19! Tomorrow, it goes back to its regular price of $97 so don’t wait to learn 21 strategies to help you work-LESS, stress-LESS, and guilt-LESS this summer. www.yongpratt.com/bundle
P.P.S. I’ll be going LIVE Wednesday at 12 PM PST to share something special with you.
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What you may have missed on the podcast…
220 – Multiply Your Message 5 [audiograms]
221 – Multiply Your Message 6 [graphics]
222 – Creating Scroll-Stopping Graphics with Nicole Thompson
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