Stop Being the Technician: Step Into Manager and Visionary

If you want to get ahead in your business, it's time to stop being the technician and step into the manager and visionary roles. Today, I'm referencing one of the most important first business books I've ever read: The E-Myth Revisited (get the revised version; it's the more up-to-date one).

This book explained something to me that so many business owners experience but don't necessarily have the language for. I was a trained coach, and rather than being hired by a company, I decided to go out on my own. But the problem is when you go to a coaching school to learn coaching processes and modalities, you're not taught how to run a business.

This is the case for so many business owners. You're not just one person in your business. You're so many roles. But when you come in as the technician, the doer of the work, you're not necessarily able to step into those multiple roles. You love to stay safe in that one place.

The Three Key Roles

The book goes through three key roles:

1. The Technician

The doer of the work. Most of us start here. Maybe you're an accountant doing people's taxes, a cleaner, whatever it may be; you are the one doing this skill, this talent. You decide, "I don't want to work for someone else. I'm going to go on my own and make my own money rather than build someone else's business."

But that also means you lose whatever team a company would have. You're not only doing the technician role (delivering the services), but now you're also doing all the other roles: answering emails, posting content, doing admin, solving problems, handling everything yourself.

You're in execution mode all day long for the things you're paid for and the things you're not. You become the default person for everything, every role, every task.

2. The Manager

The organizer of the work. This role creates structure with all of those tasks:

• Making the systems, the processes, the timelines
  
• The organization of everything
  
• The follow-up, the consistency
  
• The quality control
  

This role asks: How do we make this run better? How can we improve the technician's role? How do we make the organization run better?

Many entrepreneurs skip this role entirely, which is why things can feel chaotic. You're just doing one-offs all over, and you don't know what the plan is. The manager role is really important, especially if you end up bringing other people onto your team as employees, contractors, and such.

3. The Visionary (CEO Role)

The future of the work. They are the ones looking at:

• Growth and partnerships
  
• The bigger ideas
  
• Innovation and leadership
  
• Long-term direction for the business
  

They're answering the question: Where are we going?

If you get stuck in technician mode all day, you rarely have space to think like a visionary. Your head's down, you're doing the work, you can't come up and do that bird's-eye view above, looking down on everything. You can't see the future view of everything, and you can't do a 360 to see all the way around.

Why Most Women Are Stuck in Technician Mode

Most women over-function as technicians. We spend so much of our time in the “doing” roles because it feels super productive. You can see immediate results. You can check things off your list. Meanwhile, the manager and visionary roles are neglected.

Think back to the past month. How much of your time in your calendar was allocated to the manager role? To your visionary role?

If you don't do that, your business is going to feel heavy, maybe messy, and over-dependent on you. If you spend all your time doing the work, you won't have enough space to actually lead it, to see where the problems are, and to consider how things could be better. 

Where Support Becomes Transformational

This is why support becomes really transformational, not just for you, but for the business.

A Virtual Assistant can take over the technician roles that you never wanted to do in the first place:

• Admin
  
• Content creation (social media or for products)
  
• Scheduling
  
• Inbox management
  
• Following up with clients and leads
  
• All the tech stuff
  

They can also help create your systems and SOPs (standard operating procedures), which help strengthen the manager role as well.

This gives you more time, more space, more energy to actually operate as the visionary. Ideally, they're creating such a good ROI (return on investment) that they're actually paying for themselves. And that's when businesses get to start scaling.

The real goal is not to stop being the technician because you're really good at it for a reason. The goal is to give up certain things, so you're not the only one doing everything. 

Where Are You Spending Most of Your Time?

I'm guessing it's in the technician role. Some people spend too much time in the visionary role and never get anything done. 

I encourage you to:

1. Grab The E-Myth Revisited
   
2. Start tracking your time
   
3. See where you need to let go of things
   
4. Plan in manager and CEO/visionary time
   

Here are free resources to get started with your own virtual assistant: 

• "Top 10 Questions to Ask a VA Company When You Want to Hire a VA" by Diane Rolston
  
• 229 Tasks You Can Delegate
  
• 5 Problems in Delegating
  
• Your Virtual Assistant Readiness Scorecard
  

If you'd like me to hire that vetted dynamic virtual assistant for you, I would be happy to. I’ll share a lot of my systems, processes, and IP with you to make it easy for you to get started right away. Just reach out by booking a time on my calendar.

One final question: Which role actually needs more of your attention right now? That's the one to focus on first.

Until next time, stay dynamic!