In yesterday’s blog post on expanding yourself, I raised five questions that many Realtors who are considering hiring an assistant have had. I wrote responses to the first three. Today I will address questions number four and five. To refresh your memory, they are listed below:
- What if the work they produce is less than perfect?
- What if I don’t have enough work for them?
Perfection
I have found that perfection actually has a lot to do with ego. When someone claims to be a perfectionist, what they really are saying is that they like to have things done their way and to be in control. In order to expand yourself, you must be able to relinquish control. As difficult as it is for some to do, your choice is to either to do so or minimize the benefits of having a personal assistant.
You also need to give others permission to make mistakes. Mistake free environments are paralyzing and stifle growth. The iconic general, George S. Patton once said, “Don’t tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” If you provide proper training, as recommended in Part 1, and experience enough personal growth to let go of total control, you’ll find that the results are not only commendable, they are in some instances better than what you could have produced yourself.
Work Load
I can recall, back when I began to expand myself in the early 1990’s, I was considering increasing my assistant from a part-time employee to full-time. I crossed paths with the owner of the company with whom I am associated, and spoke of my concern. “What if I increased my assistant’s role to full-time,” I asked, “and there’s not enough work for her?” As is often the case he responded without hesitation. “Do it!” he said with assurance. “Her increased work load will generate more business and will pay for itself many times over.” I found his advice to be right on almost immediately.
Bonus
One other big cause for pause is the expense.
- Are you financially strapped?
- Are you concerned about the return on investment?
- Are you just plain frugal?
If you are truly financially strapped then perhaps the timing is not right. If it’s the latter two, however, you might want to think long and hard about changing your mindset and the benefits of having an assistant. Not only in terms of increasing your business, but also in terms of improving your quality of life.
Are you busy enough to hire a personal assistant?
Other than the financial implications, what are negatives to doing so?
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