Build a strong team
The principle behind a scalable business model also helped
Wang do a better job of managing another one of his resources: his
people.
Wang says that when he was a young, fearless entrepreneur, he didn’t properly appreciate the power of a strong, balanced team.
However, with age came wisdom: He realized that some of his
employees’ individual talents and specialized expertise could help
him guide the company to greater heights.
So, Wang insists that his employees get to know their co-workers to not only strengthen company culture, but to improve the
bonds between his employees.
He spends a lot of time setting up collaborative efforts and
events. He says creating additional opportunities for teamwork
will eventually make employees work together by default and
begin to rely on each other.
“I spend a lot of time making sure all my lieutenants spend time
getting to know each other,” Wang says. “Not just day-to-day work
but to understand personally what they are all good at or bad at.”
He says if employees know each other well, they will be more
willing to work together as a team.
In a high-growth company, trust is vital to a smooth-operating
team.
“We have to be able to watch each other’s backs. If a certain person is really good at something, we should have faith in that person doing that certain task and vice versa,” Wang says. “If you’re
not good at something, somebody else has to make up your weakness.”
To effectively manage a fast-growing company, not only must you
build a strong, balanced team but you also need to properly utilize
that team. Wang says the only way to keep your company afloat —
and your sanity intact — in the face of tremendous growth is to delegate as much as possible.
“I’d like to delegate everything,” he says. “That’s my goal; my goal
is to make sure I’m irrelevant to the company. That always has to
be my goal, and I’ve been working toward that.”
For an entrepreneur who founded his or her company, letting go
of so much responsibility can be difficult. But Wang says you have
to remember that your employees need to feel responsibility, too,
and, in some cases, they may have better insight on a matter than
you do.
“Don’t get me wrong; it’s very hard sometimes,” he says. “But I’ve
been through this once already. Sharing responsibility is one of the
most important tasks to achieve — versus trying not to let go.
“I made a lot of bad choices. I made a lot of bad mistakes. The
reason was that I’m not good at particular things, which is why
somebody else should be able to help me with those things.”
