There are three different kinds of people in business: visionaries, operators and implementers. All three are essential for a growing, sustainable business. But those operators? If you’re ready for next-level growth, you need one of those on your side.
Who are each of these essential people?
- Visionary: The CEO, the big-idea person.
- Implementer: The hands-dirty doer.
- And the operator? She’s the person who takes those big ideas and synthesizes them into action steps.
She makes sure that vision comes to fruition. She helps to define the processes and leads the team through those processes. Because let’s face it. CEOs and big-idea people are dreamers. Their ideas need the operator before the implementer gets their to-do list.
Of course, if you’re newer to business, an operator may not be in the budget just yet. You’re the visionary and your implementer is your virtual assistant or copywriter or social media manager. They’re the person who takes some of your tasks off your plate so you can work on sales and growth.
Eventually, once that growth starts to take hold, your vision may shift into something bigger. And when that happens, you need an operator in your life. As the ideas person, you need someone to break up that idea into manageable steps. Unless overwhelming your team is part of your vision!
How Marriage and Team-Building Are Similar
If you’re married or have been in a long-term relationship, think about your personalities. You likely have a saver and a spender, an introvert and an extrovert, a cooker and a cleaner (heck, a mess-maker and a cleaner), a driver and a passenger, a salty and a sweet.
Opposites attract.
The same happens in business. As the CEO and visionary, you’re naturally attracted to the operators because you see and admire their ability to put your big ideas into something that makes sense.
It’s possible to be both a visionary (for your business) and an operator or implementer (for someone else’s business). That operator role is what I play for my clients, and I have an operator for my own business too. I mean, I need someone to rein me in from time to time and help me make my own vision a reality.
What role do you like to play? If you’re a natural operator, you can be the chief operating officer for others. Maybe you already are.
Whether that’s something you do now or something you dream of doing, it’s important to back up your talents with training and knowledge so you can show that you know what you’re doing. That’s why I developed the Director of Operations Certification. Learn more here.
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