Letting Go

About 10 years ago, a young college student showed up needing a job. She was bright, funny and a hard worker. Life had thrown her a few curve balls and she handled them with introspection and grace. She was competitive and wanted to prove that she was the best. At everything. She was.

As my life goals changed, I eventually realized that she was the person to run my business. Ten years later she is the COO (Chief Operating Officer) for our two core businesses. She has grown into a leader and a woman that others admire.

Having someone else run your business or your training requires letting go. Letting go of control, letting go of mistakes and sometimes letting go of money. In exchange of letting go, I received the gift of time.

Letting go requires a serious leap of faith. My COO earned that faith over time. I think hiring a triathlon coach or a COO requires looking for the same traits:

• Consistency. She always shows up even when sometimes she shouldn’t.
• Confidence. She knows that she is the best at her job and sets clear standards for others.
• Communication. She understands that my faith is built on her clear communication with me, her staff and her clients.
• Collaboration. She doesn’t know it all and asks for help. She hires smart people and nurtures their development.

Hiring the right person is only one side of the equation. Releasing your ego and letting someone else be in charge of your business or your training requires humility and faith. Before you do it, you need to be honest with yourself if you are truly capable of letting go.

Signs you are ready to let yourself go often involve frustration. Frustration with your:

• Performance: Have you plateaued?
• Fatigue: Are you tired all the time? Grouchy?
• Skills: Is there an area of weakness for you?
• Time: Do you feel like you never have enough?

Many business owners or triathletes want to be the person that can let go but few actually achieve it. Most hang on because they find out that they really enjoy being the one in charge. For me, in both business and training, I started to find real success when I let go and took “me” out of the equation.

Successful triathlon training requires the ability to train on your own. The side benefit of having a COO or a coach is that you are no longer alone. Now you are part of a team dedicated to your development and success.