109: {Interview} The Art of Delegation: Transforming Your Business with Kris Ward

Are you currently facing overwhelm in your business? If so, this episode is for you! 

In this conversation, Kris Ward shares her journey from working long hours to achieving a balanced work-life dynamic. She emphasizes the importance of delegation, team building, and implementing systems to enhance productivity and efficiency in business. Kris discusses the significance of overcoming control issues and the necessity of having a structured approach to scaling a business. Her insights aim to empower entrepreneurs to create a business that supports their lives rather than consuming them.

takeaways

• Kris transitioned from 16-hour workdays to 6-hour workdays.
• Delegation is crucial for freeing up time and energy.
• Control issues often stem from a misunderstanding of responsibilities.
• A team is a philosophy, not just a number of people.
• Systems streamline processes and reduce decision fatigue.
• Scaling a business requires more time, not just effort.
• Consistency in processes leads to better outcomes.
• Life interruptions can impact business; preparation is key.
• Empowering clients leads to transformative results.
• A business should support your life, not consume it.

More on Kris HERE or you can connect with her on LinkedIn HERE

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Transcript

Caroline Pennington (00:01.434)
Welcome Chris. Hey, good to be here. So I want to hear your story. How did you become a bestselling author, top podcast host and entrepreneur? want to hear about your full journey.

Kris Ward (00:03.148)
Hey, I'm excited to be here.

Kris Ward (00:14.798)
well, I was born in a small town. No, okay. Let's speed this up. All right. Well, here's the thing. I started my business like 14 plus years ago and like so many people, I worked insane hours the first couple of years I was in business. Now at the time I was focused on market messaging. That was my thing. And you know, my husband said, he said, I was always stealing from sleep. I was getting up, you know, early and earlier and staying later and later.

finally about the two-year mark, I was told I was losing a little bit of my charm. And I thought, my gosh, you know, I was exhausted all the time. And I thought this cannot be, here's my biggest fan, cheering me on, doing all this stuff. And I'm just, you know, not fun to be around. So I literally went from working 16 hours a day down to six. Now this did not happen overnight. That's a whole story on its own, but it's really important because a couple of years after that, I was pulled away from the business for about two years.

when my husband was diagnosed with colon cancer. And when I returned after his passing, my existing clients had no idea of my absence. So local business community didn't know. It was just not how we navigated his journey. We were very positive in nature. And so people started to come to me and say, like, how could you possibly been away and we not know? And if you could do that, maybe it helped me get to my kids' soccer games and see my friends and family again. And so I started working with them under that capacity.

And one thing led to another, and I realized really quickly that a lot of people that I worked with looked really good on paper. Maybe they were new in business or maybe they'd been in business 15 years. They may have a podcast or a book, or they're the go-to person for a lot of people in their life, but they're still working so many hours. And so that's when everything sort of snowballed. We got the book so I could reach more people and we started doing more and more things and really helping people with their team, their time.

and their toolkits and we'll talk more about that if you ask.

Caroline Pennington (02:12.242)
All right, I'm really curious now, how did you, and I know it was probably a lot of different things that you tried, but in summary, or in, I wanna hear from you. How did you go from working 16 hours a day to six?

Kris Ward (02:25.038)
Yeah. So again, it didn't happen overnight. was a whole thing, but I learned some really key things and things that my mentors had been telling me too, like really high end successful people. And I was like, you don't understand it. Like I get a lot done in a day. So I just thought there was too much to do. And that's what a lot of my clients are like. They're a high functioning people that are usually organized and usually everyone relies on them for getting stuff done. And so then you just think, well, there's too much to be done.

there's a few things. Again, we lean on your team, your time, and your toolkit. So first of all, I did get a VA, but getting that, there's lots of agencies out there right now. We are not an agency. And why I tell you that is because virtual assistant agencies, what they do is they give you somebody but it's billable hours like a lawyer and you end up paying them whatever, 10, 20 bucks an hour and this person's getting two or three bucks an hour. Where

We may find, hire, onboard a virtual assistant for you, but you pay them directly, which is still a great price. Like you're looking at five or six US dollars an hour, but that's a really competitive price for them. Actually makes them the breadwinner in their family, but it's very affordable for us, the small business owner or founder, coach, or consultant. And so that's awesome. But getting that is one thing, being able to have a team, and a team is a philosophy, not a number.

But having a team that you don't have to delegate to, because I say delegation is a lateral move, the work still has to come through you. And then that means it's you doing this when you should be over doing that. you know, a quick example, Carolyn, is if you were in the corporate world and you were really good at sales and they made you the sales manager, the first thing they would do is remove sales from you. And then you'd be managing the people. Well, we don't have that time as entrepreneurs. So our leadership program, which the VAs go into,

changes that completely. And as most of my clients say, they feel like they have peers, not someone that like a VA. So the team was the first part. Want me to go on? Okay. The time is another. 90 % of people do not know how to use their calendar. They don't understand it's a productivity tool. So I talk about it as your time bank account. So here's a quick example.

Caroline Pennington (04:21.807)
Go ahead.

Kris Ward (04:35.754)
So many people put outside appointment, outside forces on their calendar. Like, I got an appointment with Carolyn, that's on my calendar, but my work isn't on my calendar. And people say, Chris, I do that every day. I don't need to remember that. Well, here's the thing. It's not about remembering. It's you don't have to remember your car payment every month, but you do, it comes out and you say, that comes out every month. Don't worry about it. I don't have to think about it. But the money's still gone, right? So,

Your work, most people don't know that you have to be planning your workout in a functional way because you may be stumbling into the day thinking you've got eight hours and you might only have five. And therefore, that starts off in a hot mess. And don't get me started on to-do lists because to-do lists are percolating lists of emergencies. That's a whole thing. So your team, your time, and your toolkits. So our signature super toolkits, my clients say are like dynamic breathing,

you know, documents that are like SOPs on steroids. The problem with standard operating procedures, which are really created from the corporate world and really is what chokes most people up, is they're not written by the end user. They're static in nature. They're there to cover liability. They take a long time to make. They often have training mixed up and they get outdated really quickly. Our signature super tool kits take seconds to make. And it's really like a chef going into the kitchen, sharpening their knife. And then you just go off to the races. So those three things

really transform businesses and allow you to have a business that supports your life instead of consuming it.

Caroline Pennington (06:09.778)
Okay, let me back up real quick. Why is it so crucial for entrepreneurs to release control and not have to do everything themselves?

Kris Ward (06:19.458)
Well, I don't like the word control. And I'm going to argue that a lot of people think it's control, but control over what? Because I would argue that you're not control over doing a bad job because most of the time you're doing things that you're not even good at. Like no matter what your talent or what skillset you have that you're providing, there's pre and post work to that, right? So there's admin work that takes time, you know,

five, $10 tasks when you should be charging whatever your package is, right? So let's say, I call it the three D's. Let's talk about the three D's. Damaging overhead, delayed income, diminished opportunity. So Carolyn, if you could sell, you know, let's keep the numbers simple. If you could sell a package for a hundred dollars, every time you're monkeying around doing admin work, which by the way, you're not good at, and studies show when you do things that you don't like to do, you get worse at them. So you're not good at it, you don't like to do, it sucks up the time.

You're now billing your company a hundred bucks an hour because that's the revenue you could be bringing in. So you are the most expensive damaging overhead to your business, right? And then delayed income. While you're fussing around, you know, at the computer, working late nights, not doing what you, you know, your revenue generating income should be doing. What about the client that you got in June that you could have had in January? What if they gave you one referral? And then I think the most painful one of all is the diminished opportunity.

Carolyn, my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that you did that. You know, I signed up with somebody else not too long ago and then you're locked in, right? So it's not about control. It's about freedom. The freedom to do the work that your clients paid you to do, not all the fussing before and after.

Caroline Pennington (08:14.012)
So what if someone's listening to this and they're like, okay, I hear what you're saying, but like, don't have the time or money to outsource things or train people. I just have to figure out how to do it all myself. What would you say to that person?

Kris Ward (08:25.696)
Okay, so what I would say is, Caroline, the reality is, first of all, we just explained that you can't afford not to, right? And then secondly, what I would say is, if you can afford a bottle of water or a coffee, we are talking five bucks an hour, right? And the thing is, the way we do it, I don't care if you're one of our clients, if you had a million dollars, nothing but time, you're building out a new position. So we would never encourage someone to go from zero to a full-time employee.

often they'll start off two, three hours a day to help build out that system and stuff. So you could be looking at 20 hours for the week and that's a hundred bucks, a hundred dollars. You could buy chips and pop for that these days. It's so expensive. So, you know, you really just can't afford not to. Anybody successful on any level in any way, a hundred percent, they had a team. And again, to me, a team is a philosophy, not a number. You know, I had, I had this one client that came to me and this, this happens. I don't encourage it, but sometimes

they missed their first appointment because they are just like, you know, she was a referral, she was a hot mess, was working crazy hours, she missed the first appointment. And then she says, my gosh, I'm so sorry, we rescheduled. Okay, I don't like it, but I'll do it. And we did. And then she missed the second one. And I was like, okay, we're out. I'm done, whatever. So she begged me to take on the third appointment. And I knew the person who referred her to me I was like, okay, I'll do this. That's fine. I can just work if she doesn't show up. Not a big deal. It's on the computer. No biggie. Anyways,

She told me, and I've got clippings on LinkedIn or my website or whatever, this is through some of our sessions. It's not even like a testimonial. She admitted when she started working with me, first of all, she was working crazy hours, like, you know, I don't know, 50, 60 hours a week. She said she was on medication for cortisol, sleep at night, just all the adrenaline that we don't know how to shut off. She was doing all that. And she said, you know, definitely months in, but for sure within the year, her income went up.

four times. She only worked about 22 hours a week now. And within the year she went to Costa Rica for a month with no wifi. And the VA we found for her managed the business, right? So when your time goes down and you're not working crazy hours, science shows us that you're so much more effective, you're so much more productive, that you just can't be rushing, rushing, rushing, and then do creative work at three o'clock. Now, Caroline, if you are like me,

Kris Ward (10:51.502)
I read all this science on how the brain works and I thought, but you don't understand. I really care about my business. So somehow my brain is exempt from all the studies they did at Harvard and Stanford because I am so committed to my business. But sadly, time showed that they were right, right? So you can't be rushing, rushing, rushing, rushing, and then do something profound and creative at two o'clock in the afternoon. It just doesn't work.

Caroline Pennington (11:17.81)
Okay. Thank you for sharing that story. And that is insane in all the best ways. And I applaud you for taking that third appointment by the way, cause I would be so done after number two.

Kris Ward (11:27.256)
I was, but I knew the person, she referred me and she begged me so sadly and I thought, all right. But it was the referral that I was like, I don't want to, okay.

Caroline Pennington (11:35.762)
Yeah, now I hear you and it sounds like you're getting her freaking amazing results. And so that is awesome. And it sounds like she's getting her life back because it sounds like she was a hot mess to begin with. then now she has control. I'm using the control word again.

Kris Ward (11:46.764)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Because see, it's not about control. It's about freedom. That's my argument. What control do you... I mean, I had another client, Sue, and she's an interior designer. So here's an example. She's like, Chris, you don't understand. My work is different. Even if I could afford another interior designer, when I go in, I see the room differently. And mostly what her argument was is most people put too much furniture in a room, right? So she's like, it's an entity thing. I have to see it. No one else can do it but me. So

control, I don't know. It's just like, no, I have the wisdom. But again, I always argue this pre and post work to everything, no matter who you are. So we started to look at her stuff and her average appointment was about two hours. And when we broke it down, there was some paperwork that needed to be done that didn't have to. So often, whatever you're doing, this work you do, then there's a little bit before, a little bit after, and sort of it swells you think it's all encompassed in this ball and it's not, right?

So we looked at the work and we realized, you know, that those forms don't need to be done when you're in the house. She just needs to see the house for that. And she doesn't need to be the one to do it. Right. So we broke it all down and it worked out that we got our appointments down from like two hours to like 45 to 55 minutes, which by the way, not only made her job more enjoyable and then she's in the zone, she gets there, she does her magic and she's in that lane in her brain. It was easier on the clients. And then she starts stacking all her appointments in the morning.

So the afternoon she's emceeing really big home shows for like HGTV and doing speaking gigs that she says she would have never ever got to because A, filled her day and B, she wasn't fresh at the end of the day to do these even if she could line them up.

Caroline Pennington (13:27.068)
that example too, and that just is such an amazing testimony. So, okay. Why does every entrepreneur need a system in place? What if they're out there operating outer space, you know, like just trying to keep the eyes dotted and the T's cross and, business. Why do they need to have systems in general? And what is a system?

Kris Ward (13:45.454)
So, a system really is not a sexy word. very heavy. I sometimes will say streamlined processes or our signature super toolkit. So, really what you want to be doing is you don't want to have to remember. You think that you built this out. I did this for years too. no, I built this from the ground up. Hello, it's all my brain. We're fine, right? But your brain is...

fleeting and if fatigues and science shows us again that if you do know seven things, you will often forget two or sometimes three of those and you will rotate the ones you forget. Plus, even if you did remember it, you'd like me think you can defy science, then what happens is you're burning up your decision fatigue. So you make about, I think 35,000 decisions in a day and now you're having to remember stuff. So it's like, now you've got all these apps open on your phone, it's burning down your battery. So again,

You you should be able to leave your day refreshed and start fresh. You should be able to do things that require really deep focus at three o'clock in the afternoon. You shouldn't be burning through your decision fatigue, right? So these streamlined processes or our Signature Supertoolkits, what they are is just a simple document so that, you know, I don't have to remember or think, or I could get a phone call right before I hop on here and there'd be something either maybe really exciting, I got this big new contract or something really whatever.

And then I hop on here, but I have my streamlined process of, I'm about to go on the podcast. I do this, I do that, I'm ready. My phone is shut off. Boom, boom. I don't say, my gosh, I'm so sorry. I just got a phone call from somebody who's so exciting and I forget to shut off my phone and it's ringing. It just allows you to also be always starting from a higher and higher level of efficiency so that when you do things, you don't not only not make mistakes, but then you can improve that. Like a quick example was,

I had a sales call and we have a super toolkit for that. And by having that there, not only when I get off the call, I alert my team, okay, boom, boom, boom. But you also then see things with fresh eyes at a distance. So I looked at, as I was going through the super toolkit, I looked at, so this email is going to go out to this prospect and say, hey, you know, here's some testimonial, some things people are saying about Chris. Fine. Then I realized, hmm, that was a really good sales call. Why do I want that person to wait and

Kris Ward (16:05.998)
24 hours to get some testimonial videos from me. Why don't we send that before the call? Like it's on the calendar. My assistant can see that. So I just move that up and say, hey, when you see this on the calendar, send those out beforehand so that they show up for the call with those testimonials, not me waiting, right? Nevermind to the point, Caroline, that I would say a lot of people, if you're like myself, years ago, I didn't have a process, a streamlined process for my sales call.

I would get off the call and be, my gosh, I think that went really well. They're going to tell me tomorrow. And then I'm not going to send them anything because I'm so sure this is done. Or that didn't go very well. I'm not going to send them stuff. Or, shoot, it's been two days. I thought they were going to sign up, but they didn't. Well, now it's too late to send them testimonials. Or I send them this and I don't send them that. Or I forgot that article I used to send. Right? And then you're just reacting. So you want to, you don't want to be spinning plates, reacting. You don't want to be going through feast and famine, get the business, manage the business.

then you lose some of the business, then you have to go find more business and you're just constantly in flux.

Caroline Pennington (17:09.458)
I love those examples and that is freaking brilliant about sending the testimonials out beforehand because that way the person's already watched them. They're already hyped up to meet you. Like you've got them 75 % of the way there. Like you just probably have to close at last 25%. And that is just freaking genius. So thank you for sharing that.

Kris Ward (17:30.254)
Well, more than that, I realized if this is a potential prospect and if the meeting went well, then why am I adding time to work against me? Why am I going, in 24 hours when they get that email and they see the great things people are saying about me, this is going to be good. Well, why are we delaying that? That's wrong. So, but again, you get to see that when you have it all lined out like that, you get to view it, review it, and also you can then change on a dime because the very next day...

you could just go in there and that order has been changed and everyone always goes to the super toolkit. As someone said, of my, somebody on my team said, when you work with Chris or any of my clients, you only have to remember one thing. Cause I always say business is not run a memory. And they say, the only thing you have to remember is use the super tool kits. So I can make a change and it's immediately implemented right away. Cause everyone goes to the super toolkit. So it's not, we used to do that. you weren't here. did you hear about the change? So it.

You know, we know some of the biggest companies in the world, McDonald's doesn't produce the best hamburgers, but they're consistent, right? So consistency is everything.

Caroline Pennington (18:38.684)
love that C word because I talk about that all the time on LinkedIn. Okay. So if you're listening to this and let's say you've been in business for a year, a couple of years, and you are at a point where you're wanting to scale, how do you use these systems and these processes in place to do that?

Kris Ward (18:58.542)
Well, I love the word scale because sometimes people confuse that with growth, right? So, scaling means like we don't want to have bought ourselves a job. And so, with the things that we put in play, you know, when we find hire on board, virtual assistants, they go into our leadership program, so it's a whole thing. Because what you need to understand to have a business is you constantly have to have more and more time. So, like when I wrote my book, When They Are Winning the Day,

I mean, when I was done, I thought there'd be a parade in my honor because I was just, my gosh, the book is done. It's finally done. I thought it would never be done. It's done. Okay. I'm going to my time back, right? Well, no, now I need to pitch to be on podcasts, right? So then you're like, I need time for that. And so too does some, you know, my VA working with me. Like I need help with that. Okay, great. Now I'm getting on the podcast. guess what? Those appearances eat up my calendar. Okay, great. Excellent. Now I to be doing speaking gigs on this topic.

So you can see that when you think, once I get past this next thing, things will be different. It just opens it up to another bigger thing. And that's the whole idea of having a business is the progression. Whereas a job, do this, on Mondays they do this, Tuesdays they do this, whatever, right? So that's why you want to understand that sometimes people confuse with business. It's like hunting when it's actually like farming.

need to be putting these things in play so we can grow the crops and move on and plant more crops. And then we're just harvesting the crops where we all kind of buy into that hustle mentality of go hunt when you need to and kill when you need to. And it's exhausting.

Caroline Pennington (20:33.616)
Yeah, I think that's a burn see pull out.

Kris Ward (20:36.982)
yeah, a hundred percent. mean, burnout, that's a whole nother conversation for sure. And I just want to say, what is your burnout budget? Because you're going to go through it a lot unless you make some changes.

Caroline Pennington (20:48.912)
love that a burnout budget and that is so true and so clever.

Kris Ward (20:53.602)
Well, thank you. I got all day for people who are complimenting me.

Caroline Pennington (20:58.192)
Okay, so what is lighting you up with some of the clients that you're working with right now?

Kris Ward (21:03.278)
I'm just really excited. I mean, I'm just always, I love what I do. I love being part of somebody else's success story. I work with smart people that, the sad thing about what the clients, when I meet them is because they're smart, because they're capable, because they're the go-to person for a lot of people in their lives, they start to blame themselves like, I need to be even more disciplined or more organized or whatever. And it's just that they don't have the strategies in place. So I do love that we put some simple strategies in place.

And, you know, they say very dramatic things like, saved my life, Chris, or you changed my life, or you saved my marriage. And really all I did was allow them to have a business that supports their life instead of consuming it. Because as you made me tell my story, or not made me, as you asked me my backstory at the top of the hour, you know what? When I was going through that and people would try to bestow sympathy upon me, I'd say, look, everybody has something, this is my something right now. And life has interruptions.

I mean, you take all the emotion out of that story. I lost an income. And so if I had to go find a job and be charming in an interview and learn a new position, I would have been in a hot mess, you know? So, you know, things happen, parents get sick. I've seen somebody who really came very close to losing his whole business because he fell and broke his arm, right? Like, so you want to have things that are in play.

that allow you to be effective, efficient, scale, and just make your business, you know, maybe even not bulletproof, but at least not like, my gosh, like delicate, like glass, you know?

Caroline Pennington (22:45.168)
Yeah, totally. So as we wrap up, how can our listeners find you?

Kris Ward (22:49.708)
Well, you anywhere you tell me, you can check me out on LinkedIn and you say you heard me on this great podcast. friend of Carolyn's is a friend of mine. we do have, you can go to www.free, F R E E gift G I F T from Chris K R I S.com free gift from Chris.com. If you go there for a short little while, we're going to have an audio version of my book up there. We're not keeping it there very long, so I'd act quickly, but you can grab that there and yeah.

Just hang out on LinkedIn and tell me that you got some use of anything I said and we'll be fast friends.

Caroline Pennington (23:24.722)
Thanks Chris.