Sustainability, "The Manager" & "The Talent"

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Simplicity create sustainability, but what does it mean

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to actually have a sustainable business?

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That was a question that I had as I was talking to a client recently.

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They weren't struggling with the managerial part of running a business and.

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Quite frankly, most creatives myself included.

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Also struggle with the same thing.

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And as I was going through and having the conversation with my client, they were

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talking about how there's been a number of issues that have come up for them,

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where the team haven't worked in a way.

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And she feels like that there's something wrong.

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And they haven't done something right!

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And it's their fault.

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And the whole point is to create safety in the business.

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One of the things that so many business owners are looking for,

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and myself included is safety, security, and sustainability.

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Earning enough money to keep the business going and keep things moving.

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Now, unfortunately, a lot of entrepreneurship.

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Isn't exactly the most safest it's far safer just to get a normal job.

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However, we're in it for the long haul.

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So I wanted to look at sustainability again or to sustain.

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And of course, as always the atomology boogies coming straight up here.

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And what it says is that sustained comes from the 13 hundreds

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from the stern of old French.

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And it means to give support to.

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Going from the early 14 century, it moves into endure without failing or yielding.

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And that's fascinating to me.

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It doesn't talk about sustaining or sustainability as a

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thing that is only positive.

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It is being able to hold up.

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Too bad to endure without falling.

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Meaning things can go wrong, but you'll still be able to move forward.

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And I find that a little bit fascinating when it comes to finding

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sustainability in your business systems is one of those things that

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really support and can help with that.

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But also having a manager's mindset whilst also being the creative.

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I was also having that moment of talent.

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Recently, I have been struggling in my own business, managing the talent

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side, the bit where my creative flow and the excitement and all of the

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things that show up when I'm talking directly to clients and actually

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helping them solve their problems.

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The verse simplicity specialist, part of me and the manager who helps

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keep the team up and running and helps me to sustain my business.

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The manager's role is to help, to sustain, to create the safety.

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And that manager is me.

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But being a manager is not very easy.

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It's annoying and frustrating.

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Another way of thinking about the manager is something that rod reads calls 10 K.

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Task management around things that are not the most fun and 10 K work is like.

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The big stuff, the stuff that doesn't really.

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Give you that which feels so good.

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The manager is working on things that are long term.

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There is no instant punch of dopamine when you do it.

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This is including things like creating systems in your business.

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This includes things like writing SOP is training team members, and all of

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it is boring especially for the talent.

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Especially for the talent.

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But for the manager, they always create the biggest long term.

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Sustainability.

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Because just the state is to be able to enjoy things.

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If you have team members who end up passing on their work to someone else,

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if you don't have the systems in place and you don't know what everyone needs

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to be doing, it's not sustainable.

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It's all in your head.

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And if it stays in your head, then no one, but you can do it.

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So the talent can't do that job because they're always thinking about

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the management that always being the manager, because they always have

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to move pieces around for others.

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Instead of allowing the talent or the skilled person or

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whatever you want to call it.

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Talent is a word I don't exactly like, but the person who is

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performing and creating and.

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Really loving it.

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I can actually come to life more instead of allowing the creator, the creative

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or the talent to manage everything, get the manager, to manage things, get

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them, to create the options, get them to do the sustainable work, whether

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it be sending an email when you're away for a week going okay, here are

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the pieces that you've got to do.

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Here's where everything is and having that brain dump how people

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overcomplicate standard operating procedures, people over Compli.

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Complicate systems.

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It's so easy to get in the strategic mind of how to do this in the most

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efficient way, the most efficient ways to get it out of your head.

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Start by getting the things that you do out of your head.

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We often keep it stuck in our head and when it's in our head, the talent

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and the manager are fighting for.

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Control our fighting to do the work and know the one of them likes the

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other one and it becomes difficult.

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Whereas if the manager just managers and the talent just does all the beautiful,

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sexy stuff that you want to do, the stuff that lights you up as a business

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owner, it allows you to really create something that lasts so much longer.

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It creates something that is sustainable.

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So I've been talking about the manager and the talent.

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What do I mean by those things?

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So a manager is the person who does the management is the.

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CEO is the person who's at the top.

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Now you can, of course outsource this to an actual fractional CEO or someone

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who does the project management.

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If that is something that you want to do.

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Absolutely do that.

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But if you are at a point in your business where that is not sustainable and possible

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for you to hire that out, Then you have to do that, whether you like it or not.

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But that doesn't mean it has to be hard.

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Now I will say now, if you let the talent do it, then yes, it

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will be hard and you will not be able to achieve sustainability.

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So if we start with the manager, the manager's responsibility

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is to manage things.

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It is to think beyond the next couple of weeks or the next client it's to see

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all of the moving pieces of the business and see where we're going in the future.

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The manager is the one who really does work on the $10,000 an hour work.

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It's the one who starts creating the systems and recruiting

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and training and all of the.

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Part like everything, all of the big stuff that is, that takes ages to get something

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out, the manager does not need the big delicious dopamine hits at the talent.

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Does.

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We all love a bit of dopamine.

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We all love that.

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And it was.

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Yummy.

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It was delicious, but it sucks.

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And it's boring.

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If you are the talent.

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It is boring.

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If you are the talent.

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What you have as a manager is you're the one who keeps the thing going.

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It keeps things sustainable.

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It's sustains you, it sustains your business and allows you to

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work in integrity with yourself.

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Because.

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The talent.

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Is a little bit nuts and is a little bit crazy.

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And it's highly emotional.

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At least my talent is, I don't know whether yours is

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the same, but often it is.

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So it's the tongue.

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The talent is the reason you got into business.

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The stuff that is your life's work, the stuff that lights you up.

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Whenever you see that it's the teacher, the one who comes to your clients

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and goes, Hey, have you noticed this?

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And the bit that makes them, let them go.

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Oh, that's cool.

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Oh, I like that.

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Oh my God.

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You've made my life better.

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It's the coach.

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That's the talent.

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I hate the word talent.

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Because I have a whole thing about what talent is, but for

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me, it's the best explanation.

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The talent is the coach.

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It's the one who makes the.

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Things change.

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It's the exciting stuff that you love to do.

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If you're a coach, it's when you're coaching where your client and

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why they keep coming back to you.

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If you're a consultant, it's the way you tell people what to do and

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they get the results that they need.

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If you are the simplicity specialist, which are not.

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Cause that's me.

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It's the one who can bring all of the pieces of you together and create

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something pretty magical for your clients.

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That is what the talent is.

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Whereas the manager is the one who helps to keep the talent

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going in a direction that fits.

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Sometimes what's really hard is when the talent takes over your brain

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is scattered everywhere and you're trying to do everything and all of the

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things all of the time, all at once.

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And that makes it far harder to create a business that is sustainable.

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That does not mean need one offer to clarify, because one offer

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may not be sustainable for the talent because the talent needs

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something as well as the manager.

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The talent needs to explore and play, but there has to be some limitations,

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some boundaries, some constraints that helps the talent to stay focused.

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Otherwise it moves everywhere.

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One of the big things that I have struggled with in the past of my

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business is when the talent is running the business, because in that towns is

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running the business, it's throwing out.

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Too many offers that are really confusing for your people.

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This is where niching is often thought about a niche is one way

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of putting clear constraints.

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Into the talents way to help direct it into action and moving forward it

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helps to create a clearer context that your potential clients and customers

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can see and what you can see and allows you to direct the talent in a way that

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keeps the business sustainable that is the manager's responsibility and role