You know the feeling and the frustration. You know exactly what you want to get done, and why. But another day or week goes by, and you can’t seem to get yourself to do it. What’s wrong with you?
I discovered that the problem is that there is more than one of me.
In my work as a copywriter, I do some freelancing for a company called EMyth. EMyth is a coaching company for owners of businesses $10M and above that sprang from the classic book on entrepreneurship, The EMyth Revisited.
One of the main principles covered in the book is that every business owner has three personalities: The Entrepreneur who is the visionary and the leader, the Manager who organizes the people and resources to execute on the vision, and the Technician who does the work. In this scenario, the Entrepreneur is the owner of a chain of bakeries, the Manager is in charge of the stores, the employees and ordering flour, etc. and the Technicians actually bake the pies.
According to the book, all three personalities are necessary at one time or another. The problem comes when you’re wearing the wrong hat for the wrong job.
As DaVincis, we fall into a couple of categories. Most of us love to be visionaries and creative thinkers, which makes us natural Entrepreneurs. Others just want to be Technicians and be left alone to make things. But in many cases — and in my case, I found I was definitely missing the Manager.
The Three Personalities: Are You Missing One?
My personalities include someone I call Limitless Lisa. Limitless Lisa has a million ideas and loves thinking about possibilities. She’s the one who’s tapped into the creative wellpring of the Universe. She’s also confident that she can succeed, and has visions of the impact her work can have on the wider world.
But there’s also Little Lisa. Little Lisa is the worker bee, and she has a totally different personality. She’s the writer, the artist and the freelancer. She’s got a lot of talent but she doesn’t always believe in it. She’s desperate to be liked, so sometimes she doesn’t charge enough… then resents having to work so hard for so little. She’s fearful there won’t be enough work or enough money. She puts things off because she’s fearful she won’t be able to do them perfectly, or simply because she doesn’t “feel like” doing them right now. She has no idea how to manage her time. To be honest, sometimes she cuts corners because she’s run out of time. However, when she applies herself, she always produces great work.
So if I had a Manager in between Limitless Lisa and Little Lisa (let’s call her Let’s Get ‘er Done Lisa) she’d know how to manage Little Lisa to get the best results. She wouldn’t be a scold or a slave driver, because she’s practical, not mean, and she knows that wouldn’t work anyway.
Instead, she’d remind Little Lisa of all the things she’s already accomplished and that she has what it takes to do a great job. She’d give her clear tasks and a schedule on the calendar for when the work needed to get done. She’d check in often to see how it’s going and make sure Little Lisa’s staying on track and not getting lost in distractions and worries. But she’d also recognize that Little Lisa needs praise and acknowledgement and give it to her at every opportunity. She’d notice that Little Lisa likes things to be fun and not boring, so she’d come up with ways to make the work less onerous, more interesting and give her permission to take healthy breaks. And she’d remind Little Lisa how even the small (and sometimes tedious) things she’s doing every day are contributing to the big vision of the company.
Now, I know many people advocate hiring project managers who are NOT you to handle these things in your business. I actually have a virtual assistant who does some work for me. But no matter who else I hire, the three Lisas still need to be operating at their best, and be staying in their lanes.
So, I’ve decided to hire Let’s Get ‘er Done Lisa full time. The three of us are going to have regular meetings — at least weekly; maybe even daily to start. The hope is that everyone gets to be their best selves, appreciates one another’s unique talents and accepts each other as they are. I look forward to doing great things together!
