Delusions of indispensability - Dr. Jasmine Piran

As you will know, I’ve been somewhat indisposed for the last couple of weeks after a cycling accident.

Following surgery, I’m on the mend - pace not race as always but I’ll be showing up more over the weeks ahead. My wonderful, wonderful clients decided that they missed The Coach Barrow Blog so much, that they would start writing it themselves. So - over the next few days, a few guest posts from active members of The Extreme Business 100 community, sharing their own thoughts, observations and experiences. My gratitude to the contributors and the hope that just one idea will make a positive difference to your day.

It was September 2021 and I was standing under a corrugated tin roof sheltering from the pouring rain. I was, as always, rushing from one appointment to another, trying to squeeze in a much needed ‘crisis’ call with Coach Barrow while en route. I was completely burnt out.

Not enough hours in the day or days in the week to get everything done. And that was when he burst my bubble. Apparently I wasn’t alone - Chris was observing a growing number of us existing in a stressed, burnt out state and his expert diagnosis was that we were all suffering from delusions of indispensability.

A concept that within seconds of being presented to me had literally blown my mind! So simple and yet so powerful. Years of instability in the team when I was working as an associate had led to me starting my own clinic with a need for having complete control over every element of my business. Every email. Every sentence of every treatment plan. Every invoice payment. Every stock order. All of it. So when the pandemic happened and we had to add in those additional SOPs it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I was definitely guilty of having delusions of being indispensable! Empowering our team and supporting them to take on new skills and responsibilities can only lead to good things. Nothing good ever comes from micromanaging. It really doesn’t. You either end up carrying the weak ones by spotting every potential error and intervening to ‘fix’ things before they go wrong (further fuelling your misguided delusions of indispensability!!) or you suffocate your capable team members and hold them back from both their own development and also from being able to actually help you and relieve you from all the pressure you are under.

I can’t claim to be completely cured but I have definitely made big changes and when it comes to burnout quite honestly every little helps. Literally - delegating even just one hour’s worth of daily tasks each day can have a hugely beneficial impact.

So - thank you Chris. Ever since we had that chat, whenever I feel myself approaching overwhelm I check in to see which elements of my to do list can be handed over to my highly capable team. Delegate/ automate wherever possible. It’s life changing! -- Dr Jasmine Piran MSc (Hons) BDS (Lond) BSc (Hons) Dip H GQHP MNLP Web: www.smilesbyjasmine.com Phone: 0333 733 8020 IG: www.instagram.com/smilesbyjasmine Clinic: 52 Queen Anne Street London W1G 8HL