I’m in the process of recruiting a practice manager at the moment.

The primary job of this person is to make my life easier. If you are a thought leader running a practice, and you have a practice manager who has accepted this mandate, you are in an incredibly privileged position.

To have someone committed to making your life easier is a rare and wonderful thing, and ideally that allows you to do your best work and have your biggest impact in the world.

It’s not something that I take for granted. And it’s a two-way street.

The deal I strike with my support team, including my practice manager, is that they make my life easier and I make their life better. I believe anyone working with me should be able to say their life is better as a result. And if it’s not we need to do something about it urgently, or move on.

Back in my 20s, I organised a fund-raising bike ride 3 years in a row with a fabulous team of volunteers. It was the best leadership training I ever had. Because everyone there was a volunteer I couldn’t just rely on the money and say you’re getting paid, do your job.

I think that’s a really good mindset whether your team is paid or not. They have other options, they are choosing to put their time and energy into your venture. Treat that with the respect and gravity it deserves.

So … if you’re running a thought leaders practice, get someone on your team, sooner than you think, to make your life easier. And if you already have someone doing that, make sure you are making their life better.

That’s the deal.