228: How to Build a Team That Stops Needing You for Everything

Welcome to the She Thinks Big! Podcast. Get ready to level up your thinking and expand your horizons. I’m your host, Andrea Liebross, your guide on this journey of big ideas and bold moves. I am the best-selling author of She Thinks Big: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary.

I support women like you with the insights and mindset you need to think bigger and the strategies and systems you need to turn that thinking into action and make it all a reality. Are you ready to stop thinking small and start thinking big? Let’s dive in.

Hello my friends, welcome back to the She Thinks Big podcast. So I have got a little treat for you. The next four episodes are going to be another mini-series.

And this particular mini-series was inspired by episode 194. So if you have not listened to episode 194, which is called Growth Versus Scale: The Five Essential Roles in Your Business, you need to go back and listen to that. That episode sparked so many conversations and light bulb moments that I knew I had to dig deeper.

So here we are, blowing it out into a four-part series because of everything that I continue to see, observe, and coach on with clients every single day. I'm going to add everything I see happening in my own business. Okay, so a lot of times when I do these episodes, I am experiencing whatever I’m talking about in my own business at the moment, which makes it so, so relevant.

So hello there, wherever you're listening from, Target, pickup line, your computer, a walk, folding laundry, welcome to this first episode in this new mini-series. I have got to tell you, I am loving this mini-series kind of format. It's smaller bites, it's deeper dives, and it's a whole lot of clarity.

So tell me what you think. Message me. Send me an email. I want to know what you think about these mini-series. Do you like them? Because I'm loving them, but I want to know what you think.

So with this one, you can binge all four episodes back to back, or you can take it slow and suck one in one at a time, kind of like a charcuterie board based on your business brain or formatted for the business brain. Either way, I'm thrilled you're here.

So before we dive into today's role, remember there's the five essential roles in your business, before we dive into today’s role, the doer, let me tell you why I felt inspired to create this series. Number one, all the feedback that I get. Number two, what's happening in my own business.

But number three, this whole concept of role evolution actually first clicked for me when I learned about it from Nikki McKnight of The Ops Shop. Nikki breaks it down so clearly. It was one of those moments where I thought, "Why is no one talking about this like this?" And I will pop her link into the show notes so you can explore more of her brilliance too. But I digress.

So listen, I have been coaching women for almost seven years now who are growing big, bold businesses. I've actually been coaching women for about 17 years, growing big, bold businesses, but under the umbrella of Andrea Liebross Coaching, it's been about seven.

I started to see a pattern a while ago. I'll give you an example. So one client, we're going to call her Samantha, was doing everything: writing the emails, running the events, troubleshooting the tech at 2:00 AM, and still wondering why she felt like she was drowning, not leading. So she was doing all the things.

Another client, we'll call her Jenny, had started building a team, but felt like she was managing chaos instead of getting help. Her calendar was full of fires to put out, not what I would call strategic CEO work.

These women weren’t broken. Their businesses were not broken. They were just stuck in, I'm going to call it, the wrong roles. So these five roles, doer, implementer, manager, leader, and visionary, they're not just fancy labels. They are, I'm going to call them like mile markers for growth.

When you understand which one you're in, what kind of judgment you need, and who should be delegating to whom, it changes everything. Because here’s the truth: if you want to sit fully in the CEO seat, those roles have to be clearly defined and filled. Otherwise, you're playing whack-a-mole with your to-do list and you're not leading your business.

So this little mini-series is not just about roles. It's about reclaiming your time and your energy and your vision. And that is why we're here, listening to the She Thinks Big podcast.

So this series is about the journey from doer to visionary. Because, spoiler alert, if you’re a business owner, you should not be doing all the things forever. You might be doing some of the things, but you're not doing all the things forever. So let's dive into the very first role: the doer, which usually is where we all start out.

All right. Dun dun dun. What is a doer?

I briefly touched upon this in episode 194, but let’s go deeper. When you're the doer, you’re wearing all the hats, and you're possibly dropping a few hats, and probably balancing one with one elbow while answering the client email.

So if you, as CEO, are the doer, you cannot be doing it effectively. Because the doer is the executor. They get shit done. Think. The doers should be answering every email. Packing every product. Updating every spreadsheet. Uploading every podcast episode. Scheduling every social post.

But if you're doing this, you're uploading every podcast episode yourself late at night with a spoonful of peanut butter as dinner, if you're the one scheduling every social post, you are sweating over every caption, if you're the one updating every spreadsheet, you're probably doing it at midnight.

So the doer's judgment, too, should sound like this. And this is not how a CEO judges. The doer should be judging things like, "What's the fastest way I can check this off my list? How can I just get through today's tasks? I should have a system built out, but I don't have one yet. I need to get one."

Let me tell you about Maria. She built a six-figure health coaching business by being the ultimate doer. She created the programs, ran the sessions, designed the workbooks, managed the billing, answered the DMs, everything. She was really proud of her hustle until she realized that she hadn't taken a day off in 18 months. Her inbox was just like pinging nonstop, and she was one ping away from a meltdown.

Now, for the record, there's nothing wrong with being a doer. In fact, your business needs a doer, every business needs multiple doers, probably. But the problem starts when the doer is also the CEO. That's when things start to break. That's when you become the bottleneck in your own growth. So you need a doer in your business, and it should not be you.

If you go back and listen to episode 195, I talk about when it's time to hire. Hiring doers is probably one of the most important pieces.

Next up are implementers. So implementers are kind of a little step up from a doer. They're different. She's someone who starts to zoom out, and she's the person that's going to ask, "Is there a better way to do this? What system would make this repeatable? How can we cut the time in half next time?" She doesn't need every detail, she just needs direction.

Okay, so let me tell you about Lisa. Lisa hired a VA as a pure doer, and she gave detailed instructions for every task, checked every outcome, and basically created another job for herself, which was managing her VA.

But after a few months of trust and communication, the VA became her implementer. And Lisa gave her the podcast outline, and the VA created templates for the show notes, the graphics, and the email announcements.

Lisa mentioned a client onboarding issue, and the VA redesigned the entire workflow and automated half of it. She took ownership. She started suggesting improvements, and she ran with it.

Within three months, Lisa's business looked completely different. And she finally had the mental space to work like the CEO she was meant to be. That's the power of leveling up from doer to implementer.

So key differences, here's the truth: doers need direction, but implementers need space. If you try to manage an implementer the way you manage a doer, you're going to both be miserable.

Doers need step-by-step instructions, clear expectations, regular check-ins, detailed feedback. But implementers need the bigger picture, autonomy to create solutions, trust to run with ideas. They need resources to implement systems.

So, micromanaging a doer might be helpful, but micromanaging an implementer? That means you're kind of micromanaging yourself, and you're not letting the implementer do the job.

Think of it like this. A doer is executing sheet music perfectly. An implementer is arranging the entire song. Alright, now let's go back a little bit into when to hire and who to delegate to.

I want you to ask yourself: are you drowning in admin tasks? You need a doer. Are you spending more time giving instructions than strategic thinking? You need a doer. Do you have systems that work, but no one to run them? You need a doer.

Okay, now ask yourself: am I repeating myself or rewriting SOPs or systems or processes every month? It's time for an implementer. Are you asking yourself, “Do I have a process that needs improvement, but no time to fix it?” You need an implementer. Ask yourself, “Am I the only one who can figure things out in my business?” Definitely time for an implementer.

So you, as the visionary and founder, delegate execution to an implementer. But your implementer delegates tasks to doers. It's a structure. It's a workflow in a way. But this structure creates some sanity.

I think this is where CEOs get stuck. They hire help, but keep directing every detail. You've got to recognize that your business needs both roles. That true growth happens when you're no longer the only implementer on the team.

So here's your homework. Take a few minutes—today, right now—look at your calendar or your to-do list. I hope you don't have a to-do list. I hope you have a to-believe list, but that's another episode that you should listen to. Look at your calendar. Look at your to-do list. And highlight every task that only a doer would be doing.

Hint on this: it would involve checking the box, following someone else's plan, that's probably doer's work. Now I want you to circle every task that involves creating systems or improving processes or making judgment calls, that's an implementer's territory.

Then ask yourself: Should I really be doing these doer tasks? Or could someone else do them with a bit of training? And bonus points if you journal on this. What would become possible in my business if I trusted someone else to not just execute, but implement?

Okay, friends, if you're still holding onto doer-level tasks, it's no wonder you feel stuck. To operate as CEO, you need to rise above the doing, and that starts with knowing what to hand off and to whom.

If you want support as you shift roles in your business, this is exactly the kind of transformation that I help clients with in coaching. Whether you're stuck in doer mode or learning how to trust your implementer, I am here to really help you create a clear team structure, to delegate confidently, and step into your role as visionary CEO.

If you haven't listened to my recent episode with my client Whitney that was released, oh, maybe 10 episodes ago, you need to go listen to that one.That was episode 219. You need to go listen to 219.

Because she really figured out how to become, how to get confidently, and have that clear team structure. I mean, it's a work in progress. She's still working on it. We're all working on it.

But if you want to be more of a visionary CEO, DM me on Instagram or visit andrealiebross.com to learn how coaching might be the next best move for your growth. It's support in taking these next steps. That's it for this first bite here in this four-part mini-series.

Next up in the next episode, we're going to talk about the most overlooked role in business, the manager. She's the glue. She's the traffic controller. The one making sure all the wheels don't fly off the bus. And spoiler alert: she might be the reason you feel stuck. I will see you there in our next episode. As always, keep thinking big, because when you do, big things happen.

Thanks for tuning into the She Thinks Big! Podcast. If you're ready to learn the secret to unleashing your full potential, don't forget to grab a copy of my book, She Thinks Big: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary. It's available on Amazon and at your favorite bookstore.

And while you're there, grab a copy for a friend. Inside, you'll both find actionable strategies and empowering insights to help you navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship and life, and step confidently into your extraordinary future.

If you found value in today's episode, please consider leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. And if you're ready to take this learning a step further and apply it to your own business and life, head to andreaslinks.com and click the button to schedule a discovery call. Until next time, keep thinking big.