I was quietly pondering after a tasty meal last night what I would say or write if I could get the attention of everyone in the world. I am not a teacher or a life coach so I reckon I won’t be of help to a ton of people in that room. Just imagine you did though…I know I will go on preaching about the importance of peace around the globe, why we really need to stop to war (the ones we fight with others and those we fight with ourselves) e.t.c. But what else can one say to such a diverse group where there in perhaps less than 1% of people who give a damn about your subject of interest?
This got me thinking, how does a leader of a huge corporation servicing several people and managing loads of people do it? How do they go about their business and how do they succeed? They must have so much to deal with that they have no clue about? This brings me to the issue of shared labor or division of office that exists, and how it relates to start-ups. It must be a hell of a task to get people doing stuff you have no clue about your self. Like how do you motivate them? how do you explain to them the right from the wrong?
As it pertains to start-ups, division of office is vital! No man is an island and no one knows it all. I figure if I had 5 minutes in that room full of everyone , I will split that room into 10 or so batches and look for 9 other brilliant souls (not that I am a brilliant soul, i hope to be one day though), and have each person lead the discussions in each of the groups. I will make sure these other 9 people have top skill completely different from mine and each other’s. Really though, this still won’t be of much help would it? what if there are people in my team who will rather be listen to what one of the other guys had to say? There is where the importance of communication comes in. Personally, I will be preaching how to build a start-up, how to bootstrap and not depend on external funds to bring your ideas to life e.t.c.
Two aspects I thought I covered during that moment of reflection are: division of office and communication. It hit me immediately that infact these two concepts always come into play when running a business.
- Division of office: Ben Foster is a good friend of mine who owns a construction contracting company in Manchester, UK. He is a perfect example of someone succeeding at a venture he knows absolutely nothing about (maybe he know a bit now since he’s had to live around it for 2 years). Ben is a guy who like talking to people, he’s very friendly and he has the aura of someone who people flock to. He has no problem walking up to a stranger and striking up a conversation, that’s him. He however has never worked construction before, never been on hand to witness a house being turned over e.t.c. He read in the times newspaper how the construction business was blossoming in Greater Manchester at the time, so what did my broke, recent grad buddy do? he chose to start a construction contracting business. He hired his sunday football(soccer) teammate who worked construction during the day, got an freelance accountant and a desperate lawyer fresh out of law school to be on his team. The deal: they make money whenever he did. He put his own gifts to work, all he did was go out and meet people, asking them if they needed any construction service and the other guys did the rest of the job. My point, you don’t have to be the zeus of everything to be successful. I believe in the power of division of office if done right. Getting talented people to run specific section of your business is never a bad idea.
- Communication: In the case of the room full of everyone in the world, all I need to ask for a show of hands of who would rather listen to this topic than that topic and arrange people accordingly. Same applies to a business. Bill Gates once said “communication breeds success for a large corporation and lack of it leads to chaos”. I agree with the lad. Knowing everyone’s strengths and weaknesses might be the helpful thing for a business owner, it helps you redefine and reassign tasks. Never overlook the power of communication.
p.s. I would like to know, what would you say or do if you had everyone in the world in one room?
