Emphasize Strengths, Not Weaknesses

There’s a saying that comes to mind here, and it goes something like this: Don’t be a jack of all
trades and master of none. Most people are good at a handful of things and utterly miserable at
most. I am great at a lot of things like buying real estate creatively and marketing to qualified
buyers, but I’m terrible at most other things that lead up to getting there. Although I know what
to do and how to teach someone how to do it, my mind does not embrace the technical
intricacies needed to do these tasks smoothly and efficiently. I ignored this for a long time. I tried
fitting a round peg into a square hole, and I tried making myself learn every little task that I
needed to in order to grow my business. I thought I had to know how to do everything, so that I
would know how to teach it to someone else, or how to spot a problem if it came up. That is a
recipe for disaster! What the truly successful people of the world know to be true, is that you
don’t have to be an expert, as long as you hire someone who is, or can train someone to become
one. As a CEO of your successful real estate investment company, you should become a master
in the art of delegation, follow up, and finding new income streams to boldly take your company
to drink from.
Do not become a master of trivial duties such as list building, data compiling, lead scrubbing,
data entry, data analysis, reports, spreadsheets, appointment setting, webpage building, email
marketing campaigns, blog writing, social media marketing, direct marketing, just to name a few.
These tasks or very important and should not be overlooked or neglected! However, these are
duties and responsibilities that someone else would completely take pride in doing. They would
show ownership in their responsibilities, and be given a chance to make a difference in the lives
of themselves and their family. Even though I strongly believe there is no job that is beneath me,
I strongly believe that my efforts are best spent manning the helm of my ship and guiding it into
new and sometimes uncharted territory, rather than making sure the decks are mopped and
engines have enough oil, so to speak. Focus on what you are good at and delegate or reassign
the task that you are not good at.
If you’re ever going to get good at something you need to identify what you are actually good at,
and then practice, practice, practice. Bruce Lee was quoted once to have said something that
comes to mind and seems pretty relevant in this case: “Teach them one block, one punch, and
one kick, and let them master it. Then they will be unstoppable.” So get good at something, I
mean really good at something, and if you’re not sure what you’re good at yet, start by learning
how to delegate to other people. This task will be important no matter what road you go down
next. Practice how to only perform the tasks that give you the highest return on your time, and
since time is money this is an invaluable lesson and skill set. Time is one of the only things we as
human beings can never replace. We can ever get more time, it is the only thing that constantly
escapes us and that we wish we had more of. No amount of money, bartering, begging, or
pleading can ever replace it. So be selfish with your time, guard it and never ever take it for
granted. As a CEO make sure your time is spent not only on doing the things you are good at but
also in the pursuit of learning and mastering the things you should be good at.