121: How to Steer Through a Downturn and Stop Micromanaging with Annie Hyman Pratt

Take it from a self-described “recovering micromanager,” Annie Hyman Pratt: people are the most underleveraged, underutilized asset you have in your business. And once you see it, she says, you won’t be able to unsee it. 

Today we’re talking about the people side of your business—how to get out of the weeds as a leader to prevent burnout and build a high-performing, trust-based team, even while steering through shaky economic conditions.

More About Annie: Annie Hyman Pratt specializes in developing leaders, teams, and infrastructure to drive business growth through her company Leading Edge Teams. Her career started with her family’s business, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and sky-rocketed from there. After decades of success and experience as a C-level executive and business adviser, she recently launched her new book, The People Part: Seven Agreements Entrepreneurs and Leaders Make to Build Teams, Accelerate Growth, and Banish Burnout for Good.

🌟3 Key Takeaways:

  • Micromanagement often comes from a leader trying to dial down their own discomfort, judgements, and assumptions. “What we need from people now is thinking—hands are not enough.”

  • Delegation starts on the premise that it’s a two-way street: the other person needs to take on discernment, responsibility, and results, not just say “yes” automatically.

  • The thing about downturns: as long as you survive with any kind of decent health at the end, you will automatically be there to grab the new opportunities — which you can’t see yet! A stormy season isn’t the time to try and reach your destination, but just to keep the ship upright and your team reasonably okay. Have faith that the skies are going to clear.

📝Permission: Drop the self-blame and self-disappointment. If you are a business owner, your self-compassion must exceed your ambition.

✅Do (or Delegate) This Next: For the next big project you want to delegate, consider (and capture!) the outcomes you are looking to achieve as a result (not just tasks). 

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Jenny Blake

Jenny Blake is a career and business strategist and international speaker who helps people people organize their brain, move beyond burnout and create sustainable careers they love. She is the author of PIVOT: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One (Portfolio/Penguin Random House, September 2016). Jenny left her job in career development at Google in 2011 after five and a half years at the company to launch her first book, Life After College, and has since run her own consulting business in New York City. Find her on Twitter @Jenny_Blake and subscribe to the Pivot Podcast

http://PivotMethod.com
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