As an insurance agent, you’re essentially a small businesses owner and small businesses owners generally don’t know what relaxing is. It’s a lot of late nights at the office and hours of tireless hard work. If your business has plateaued, however, your hard work may actually be to blame.
This sounds counter-intuitive, but when you work too hard, chances are you’ll end up micromanaging your employees. And we all cringe at that word for a reason. Micromanaging undermines your team members’ dedication and sends a message you don’t trust them, plus it adds more to your plate that you don’t have time for. This can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, generating resentment and an unhealthy work atmosphere.
The number one rule of hiring is that you should always hire someone smarter than you in the position you’re hiring for. When you hire experts, they can carry out the work in less time, thanks to their training and experience, and you can free yourself up to focus on those strategic tasks which no one else can do. When your employees are constantly interrupting you or asking you to make decisions, it prevents you from focusing on more important core responsibilities and holds them back from potential growth in their own roles. Hiring smart, capable people and allowing them to thrive, will generate growth for your company.
Understandably, changing the habit of working too hard is easier said than done. Simply working less isn’t a viable solution. There’s a good chance that vital business processes grew around your habit of overwork. If you suddenly reduce the amount of work you’re doing, you could cause the whole business to fall apart. An important first step to making a change is to reflect on what is causing you to work too hard in the first place. Identifying the source could give you the insight you need to change your work habits.