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). 

📘Books Mentioned:

• Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business

• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One

• The People Part: Seven Agreements Entrepreneurs and Leaders Make to Build Teams, Accelerate Growth, and Banish Burnout for Good

• Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You

🔗Resources Mentioned:

• Annie on the web, Instagram: @anniehymanpratt, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

• Leadership Assessment Quiz

• Leading Edge Teams

🎧Related Podcast Episodes:

• 007: Million-Dollar One-Person Business with Elaine Pofeldt

• 093: How to Sell Your Online Business with Alexis Grant

• Pivot: 096: The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business with Elaine Pofeldt

• 086: The Cyrano Strategy for Delegating Important Comms

• 054: Ten T's of Successful Delegating

• 067: Tiny Business, Big Money with Elaine Pofeldt

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