As your business grows, there are two options for how you’ll lead and how you’ll spend your time:

• Become a master controller.
• Become a master delegator.

Both come with risks and rewards.

If you control everything, you risk wasting your time. By having a hand in everything, you’re not able to focus on what only you can do and what you do best. You’re doing it all and spreading thin.

But, as the master controller, you will be able to make sure mistakes are never made and that everything is up to your personal standards. The members of your team will be interchangeable and dispensable, because each one works as a cog to do the tasks you assign.

If you delegate, you risk giving a job to someone who can’t do it as well as you. And over time, the members of your team will become critical assets who are not easily replaced.

When you delegate, you may be surprised to find that when someone else does the job, they do it even better than you would have. And now, thanks to them, you have time and energy to focus on the things which you do best.

. . .

I used to think that in business politics, knowledge was power. I felt powerful and important if I knew what everyone was doing all the time, and if I was the one with all the answers.

But I now believe trust is better than knowledge when it comes to business culture and business politics.

I choose to trust that the people I work with are capable. And they trust me to empower them and get out of their way.

It doesn’t always feel like it in the moment, but growing a business that delegates and trusts is far less risky than it seems.