Staff and Delegation, the good the bad the ugly

The less I do the more I make! Yes, it’s true, I admit Ron’s right! This is all because of delegation.

But, yes there is a but, you must get the right people in place. What does that mean? In my facility, trust

is a huge factor and it should be in yours too. You must upfront set expectations, checks and balances

and processes & procedures.

First off, I would tell you, don’t hire friends and family. I fired my entire staff after business management

bootcamp and started over because it all began with the help of friends who just wanted a piece of the

pie. They were doing us a favor by helping us without really having the best interest of the company in

mind. Yes, this was hard, but necessary. If you are paying for a service, it is not a favor. This is always a

clue when someone needs to depart, when they always see themselves as doing you a favor. I also

believe, whoever helps build the company often doesn’t also have a growth mentality too. No matter

their relation to you, not one person should ever control it all.

For example, in accounting, the person that enters the receipts should not also reconcile the books.

The person that posts the marketing, should not also be the one showing the properties or

renting/selling them. The person talking to the contractors, should not be the one that releases the

check too. Whoever creates the reports isn’t the one that entered it all either, because spreadsheets can

be altered, and even quick books can be coded so you get a report that looks the way the boss wants it

too (I have fired my fair share of bookkeepers that I let do it all, but not anymore).

Why? I like everyone to succeed and I hate firing people, so the less I give them to hide, or lie about the

better off we all are. The system keeps everything in check. Also, side note, if you tell me one small lie, I

question what else are you lying about, and then we will have to ask you to exit the building and my life.

How did I discover this...? I hired a temp agency to shadow each position in my facility...to create

procedure manuals (or systems) and what did I find? I found out people were taking advantage of me,

not completing the tasks they said they were, not working the amount of time they said it took to

accomplish the job (wasting time on the clock shopping instead) and many more things. You see, if you

often can’t get someone to document what they are doing as you build your business, that person thinks

that creates job security for them, WRONG! I promise this is happening to you if you don’t have these

things in place!

I now make sure everyone is clear we have checks and balances. When you have the right crew/staff this

is a good thing and they love it. I recently had some hang ups on efficiency, and I have a really great staff

that has my back, so I asked myself what was wrong. Over a weekend I changed some offices around

(new scenery) and re introduced the checklists of the positions. Our production increased by 50% in the

last few weeks. It seriously can be this easy, if you aren’t trapped in the business but looking over the

business. Simple tweaks can reveal the most obvious truths.

I guess the long and short of all of this is, don’t re-create the wheel, follow a system someone else has

already proven to work, and less isn’t more. Have a mentor show you the way, find a business that

works and that you want and duplicate it. Keep your word to people and make them keep their word to

you by asking for proof in business. Designate specific jobs/tasks to people in a particle job.

Just this week at one of Ron’s mastermind groups someone asked me what Brandon do? I responded

with, he is the big thinker, loves development, city council, private money, and seller appointments with

me, he is the vision guy. Myself and the staff are the execution team. I create the systems and delegate

it out to implementation phase until resolution occurs, I do the seller calls, get all the deals to closing,

train our staff, mentor for Ron and teach student housing. The staff knows they aren’t to discuss

execution items with him directly, or chaos breaks out. Together we determine if it’s revenue

generating for the business and a true priority, and we go for it. I compare this to a football team. We

are the kickers on the team. We kick the ball to get the game started and then the rest of the team

executes several plays to score in the game. They laughed, but hey, we have the “roles” figured out, and

no one can play mama against papa, like our kiddos do. Everything/everyone goes through a chain of

command that keeps things crystal clear with clarity not confusion and chaos. This will make the day to

day business and staff grateful, when you have clearly defined roles in place.

Another key thing, we don’t take work home for discussion, or outside the home office space. We keep

it at work or in the work space. We big think & dream & plan on walks, at restaurants, and vacations, but

not inside the office. We keep the rooms of life clearly defined too, family room, personal room, work

room, this keeps our energy high and efficient for our goals.

Without our staff & VA’s, we would not be where we are today, with over 200 tenants, over 50

properties in our hold portfolio, a new speaking/teaching business, and many more deals on the

horizon. Does it take time to teach, train and put systems in place yes, but it will save you a lifetime of

heartache and stress I promise. It will provide growth, and give back to your family and community, YOU

CAN’T DO IT ALL ALONE!

I CHALLENGE you to start with one thing, delegate one thing. I chose to start with getting the grass

mowed and the house cleaned. You would be surprised how dedicated I became to generating revenue,

so I could pay to have that done, and not let my promise down to those people, and to reward myself

and enjoy a little freedom! Maybe you will choose a VA or a personal assistant, so you can just make

your closing calls and make deals happen, so you can pay for the VA, which leads to more $$$$ and

freedom.

My advice to you is surround yourself with like-minded people. Do this inside and outside the business.

Keep your eyes open for their true colors when hiring and delegating, because whatever they are, you

are and that’s what people will remember. So keep good people that have your interests at heart and

mind and keep your promises to them.

My daddy always says when you leave this world no one’s going to care about your credit score, but

they are going to remember if you kept your word, and your name means everything, don’t destroy

that. You are only as good as your word.

Dixie Decker

The Queen of Student Housing