Too many indians, not enough chiefs

This outdated, immensely offensive in certain circles of society analogy refers to everyone in an organization being in charge of something, but no one seems to be available to do the actual work.

I think I heard this analogy most often in the military, where sitting at a desk doing “administrative” work seemed to be the pot of gold everyone sought – while doing the “grunt work” was for, well, the grunts.

While moving up the ladder is (or should be) everyone’s goal, I’ve also seen and been part of organizations where there’s a whole lot of indians, but a lack of centralized leadership – kind of like a six-pack of beer but no plastic thing to hold the cans together.

In the last few months, I’ve begun learning how to manage this balance as I’ve delegated some of the “grunt work” of editing podcasts to other folk I trust (under my careful supervision of course) so I can focus on more “chief” stuff like marketing, advertising, writing a daily email, stuff like that. It’s like learning a new job, right alongside the fellow her in Vietnam I’ve been showing the ropes of podcasting too.

For awhile, I was the chief and the Indian. And that can only get one so far as an entrepreneur. Nothing wrong with it, in fact it’s quite noble. But there’s definitely a ceiling to which one can climb in that scenario.

In this new economy, in which businesses big and small seem to want to distance themselves from the old ways of doing things, this decentralization of authority is something I’ve encountered many times.

Maybe even the Army will follow suit – in 30 years, their typical turnaround time for catching up with the rest of society.

And on this gorgeous Sunday morning, it is what I have to share with you in today’s fun-filled email.

I will call your attention to the mobile app I’ve been raving about. It contains a bunch of stuff I think will help develop a mentality that produces real success, whether you’re a chief or Indian – or both.

Click here to get access to it.

James Newcomb