Gwen Bortner is a business advisor who provides outside perspective and unwavering accountability. She’s also the one to ask the hard questions others won't. After four decades of working across 47+ industries, Gwen has learned that marketing and sales have built-in feedback loops — you know quickly if they're working. But the behind-the-scenes engine that runs your business? That's where the blind spots live. That's where successful businesses secretly start breaking down, even when everything looks fine from the outside. Gwen's monthly newsletter provides tips to help you identify bottlenecks others miss so you can build a business that performs well without consuming your life.
[Weekly Question] Let’s look at delegation.
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Reader — A quick reminder of what we’re doing here, since these Thursday emails are new: instead of sending you more information (because frankly, you’re past that), I’m sending you one REALLY good question to help you get you into your CEO brain, challenge your assumptions, and break through confusion and indecision. My question for you this week is: are you delegating things you shouldn’t? Common wisdom says that we should delegate or outsource all lower-level tasks. But there are often a few of those tasks that we REALLY enjoy doing. For example, I really love doing my own bookkeeping. It's easy and makes me happy. What is one lower-level task you LOVE and why do you enjoy and/or find satisfaction doing it? Enjoy, Gwen P.S. - We’d love to hear from you! Share your answers or thoughts or anything else with us. We'd love to hear from you (and give you some personalized feedback!) |
Gwen Bortner | Everyday Effectiveness
Gwen Bortner is a business advisor who provides outside perspective and unwavering accountability. She’s also the one to ask the hard questions others won't. After four decades of working across 47+ industries, Gwen has learned that marketing and sales have built-in feedback loops — you know quickly if they're working. But the behind-the-scenes engine that runs your business? That's where the blind spots live. That's where successful businesses secretly start breaking down, even when everything looks fine from the outside. Gwen's monthly newsletter provides tips to help you identify bottlenecks others miss so you can build a business that performs well without consuming your life.
Reader — Many business owners struggle to distinguish between investment and expense – an investment, of course, being something with a rate of return that exceeds its cost, while an expense is a cost of doing business. What recent business purchase are you justifying as an investment that might actually be an unnecessary expense? Or what expense have you been avoiding that might actually be an investment? Think about it – and let me know what comes up. I’d love to hear from you (and give you...
Reader — It is so easy to assume that "everybody knows about..." fill in the blank. But rarely have our marketing efforts truly been that well managed or wide spread. What is one aspect of your business that you feel everyone knows about but you could easily talk about more? For me, turns out the answer was, “What I actually do”! So in case you don’t know, I’m a business advisor who provides outside perspective and real accountability, and asks the hard questions other people won’t. What do...
Reader — This week’s question is one I find myself asking people with a team: are you sure you have the right person in the right place? The truth is, good people and the right fit are not necessarily the same thing. As our businesses transform over time, roles change along with the associated skills and behaviors. Has loyalty led you to keep working with good people who are no longer a right fit for the job/role they are filling? Who would you hire if you were filling each position for the...