What Does It Mean to Be Great at Your Job?

Hello everyone, and welcome to this month's edition of Building Value. For most of us entrepreneurs, we commonly forget one incredibly important thing: being a business owner and being an employee are two very different skill sets. Owners are, by definition, self-starters. We don't wait for someone to tell us what to do. In fact, it's often why we became entrepreneurs in the first place, because we didn't agree with how things were done, or we believed we could do them better. But here's the key to remember: most people aren't wired that way. That doesn't mean they can't be great at their jobs, it just means they need clarity, structure, and guidance that we as owners sometimes take for granted.

So how do we as owners go about doing that? For employees, doing a great job usually comes down to three things. First, priorities: knowing what matters most right now. The second is focus: avoiding the trap of reacting to every ping and distraction that comes into the inbox. And lastly is execution: having the tools, the training, and the time to actually deliver. Without this clarity, however, employees tend to fall into one of two camps. They either think they're doing a great job, whether they are or aren't, or they have no idea what great looks like and simply react to whatever pops up. Regardless, both camps spend their days bouncing between tasks, inbox pings, and interruptions. In other words, they're reacting, not creating value.

This is where leadership builds enterprise value. It isn't difficult, but with just a few tweaks, a great leader can dramatically change the trajectory of their business. How do you do this? First, you set the expectations, defining what great looks like in each role. Second, you outline the metrics, showing how success will be measured. And lastly, you map out the ideal day with them, giving employees a picture of what their time should actually look like, or how you would spend your time if you were them. You've likely worn all the hats. You know what's important versus what's noise. Use that experience to design clarity for your team.

Then comes the most important step, the sit-down conversation. This is where you explain not just the what, but the why. If people don't buy into the why the work matters, they won't execute with care or urgency. When you sit down, along with explaining why this is important to you and the business, ask for their input. Does this seem fair? What would you change? What should we think about differently? What do you need from us to do this successfully? Spend extra time here. What we found is that employees won't always admit, perhaps, when they don't understand, or even more importantly, what they don't agree with. And it's your job to pull that out of them before it becomes a problem further down the road.

And finally, before cutting them loose to execute, check the basics. Do they know exactly what the ask is and the timeline? Do they know how to do it? Have they been trained? Do they have the right tools and resources? And have you created the space for them to do it, or are you piling on distraction after distraction while asking them to keep up with the current workload?

Now, why does all this matter? One half of that answer is likely obvious: employees with a clearer sense of their roles and responsibilities execute better, they execute faster, and frankly, they're just happier. The other half: companies don't scale on the backs of reactive employees, they scale on systems that create clarity, accountability, and results. When employees understand what great looks like, feel equipped to deliver it, and know their efforts are tied to fair incentives, they don't just perform better, they help build a business that's more valuable. Thanks again for joining me, everyone. Until next month, keep building value.