Big Picture Thinkers
You hear it a lot.
I’m a Big Picture Thinker.
The problem is, it’s bullshit, when they say it.
What I really hear is I don’t want to deal with details.
I’ve talked about it in the past, and I’ll continue to talk about it until I’m blue in the face – you need to pay attention to the Forest AND the Trees.
Not one, not either. BOTH.
Entrepreneurship
Nothing teaches you the importance of the Forest AND the Trees more than entrepreneurship.
Let me explain.
As you may be aware, I’ve recently started a real estate development company:
Starting a company teaches you a lot.
One of the things it teaches you is how much you weren’t doing when you were employed.
We forget, though.
As we climb the ladder, we lose sight.
We don’t recall, sometimes, what we used to do.
I’ll give you an example to make sense of what I’m talking about.
As CFO of a large real estate development company, I had a team of roughly 33 people across these functions:
- IT
- Tax
- Capital
- Finance
- Accounting
Sure, at some point, I did a lot of these jobs or portions thereof, but over time, I was less and less involved with the details (the Trees).
I started to shift my focus to the big picture (the Forest). To what each team should be focused on and the direction they travelled.
Not even who would do it or how they would do it. Simply, what needed to be done.
Now, it’s on me.
There’s nobody to delegate to.
There isn’t a VP in charge of each of those five functions.
There aren’t teams of controllers, senior accountants, accountants and administrators.
There’s only me.
A cashflow needs to be done. Me.
An accounts payable policy needs to be written. Me.
Okay, I’m cheating a little, Erin, an amazing bookkeeper, is helping me with some of the items, but you get the idea, in Entrepreneurship, it’s on you.
You need to:
- See the Forest
- Plant and tend the Trees
- Get down in the Mud when needed
The Problem
The problem with many young leaders is they haven’t walked before they want to run.
You know them.
They have an idea of what to do, but they can’t teach it.
They have an idea of what to do, but they can’t dive into the details.
Bottom line, they haven’t done what they’re going to ask you to do for them and it shows.
Here’s an example, and you may have seen it on social media.
Young people are coming out of school and they’re buying sweaty main street businesses.
Here’s the problem.
They don’t understand the businesses.
They’ve never run anything like these businesses.
The whole premise is:
- Buy business
- Hire an operator
- The business prints cash
- Use that cash to repeat 1, 2 and 3
But…
It doesn’t work that way…
Sure, maybe it works for Codie Sanchez, Nick Huber or Alex Hormozi
Or…does it…
We don’t actually know.
Many of these people aren’t operators.
They’re social media marketing specialists.
That doesn’t mean they don’t know how to operate.
It doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of operating a business.
What it does mean is we don’t actually know if they’re operators yet.
Now, young people want to be them.
They want to borrow money to buy a business.
They’re going to hire operators and delegate the details and focus on the Big Picture…
It works when the market is hot.
It works when the market drives returns.
When it doesn’t work is when things turn south.
It doesn’t work when you actually need to be focused on the details.
It doesn’t work when your team is in a tough spot and they need your help to get them out of it.
The Solution
As a leader, you need to see the Big Picture.
Heck, it’s your job to paint the Big Picture Vision and motivate people to fall in line to help achieve the vision.
It doesn’t stop there, though.
You need to be able to take the big picture and break it down to its smallest steps so you can understand how everyone on the team contributes to the vision:
Business Plan –> Team Plan –> Functional Plans –> Individual performance plans
If people achieve their performance plan, the functional teams succeed. If the functional teams succeed, each Team will succeed and then, the business will meet it’s goals.
The best leaders can step in when needed.
That’s not your job, you don’t want to do someone else’s lifting, but…
Imagine someone on your team quits and you don’t have an internal replacement, until you hire a replacement, who’s going to do the work?
Often, it’s the leader.
The leader picks up the slack, because they can.
They can do that when they understand how the business works.
That’s your job.
Understand the business.
Understand every role and function.
Ensure that you’ve got the ability to plant and mind the trees and then teach and delegate that responsibility to others.
When things go south.
When you have someone quit.
When you run into an unexpected problem.
When your team needs your help because they’re lost.
That’s when it’s time to get down into the mud, roll up your sleeves and help get things across the finish line.
Sure, while you do it, teach them.
While you do it, make sure next time you won’t need to.
But, if you can’t get down in that dirt and get it done, you’re not ready to lead, yet.
TGG Podcast
I talk about Having an Abundant Mindset this week on the Growth Guide Podcast.
People with a scarcity mindset see everything in terms of win-lose.
And because of that, they LOSE…
There’s only so much, and if someone else has it, that means there will be less for me, is how they think.
The more principle-centered we become, the more we develop an abundance mentality.
If you have an abundant mindset, you think: If you win, I win.
Let’s make a bigger pie together and share in its rewards.
I hope this episode inspires you to shift from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance. It’s a choice you can make every day.
To hear more about Having an Abundant Mindset, Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Last Word 👋
I love hearing from readers and I’m always looking for your feedback.
How I’m doing with the Growth Guide. Is there anything you want to see more of or less? Which aspects of the Newsletter or Podcast do you like the most?
Hit reply, say hello, and let me know what you think of the Forest AND the Trees.
I’d love to chat with you !
All my best,
Clint
