When Working Hard Stopped Working
By Lisa Cruz
Early in my career, I thought leadership meant being the hardest worker in the room. If something needed to get done, you stayed late and pushed through it. That approach worked in nursing. When a patient needs you, your effort matters. The more time and attention you give, the more impact you can have.
But when I started helping grow our auto repair business, that mindset stopped working the same way. I remember days when I was answering phones, dealing with customers, doing paperwork, and still trying to figure out the finances at night. I was working constantly, yet the business wasn’t really moving forward.
At some point, I realized there’s a limit to how much progress comes from just working harder. You can only put in so many hours before you hit a wall.
Once we started paying attention to our numbers and writing down how things should be done, the business began to grow in a different way. Before this, we were reacting to whatever problem showed up that day. Now we had a better idea of how we wanted things to run.
The people who move ahead fastest seem to develop a simple habit. They step back and ask themselves one question:
“What should I be building instead of doing myself?”
That shift, from doing everything to building something that runs without you doing everything, is where real growth starts.
Women get better at thinking ahead when they get out of survival mode.
I lived in survival mode for years. I reacted to emergencies constantly while working as a Registered Nurse. When my husband and I were growing our business, we did everything ourselves. We answered every phone call, handled the finances, scheduled repairs, ordered parts, and solved whatever problem walked through the door that day.
Survival mode teaches you how to react quickly. But thinking ahead requires space, and that’s the part that’s hard to find when you’re in it.
One of the best things you can do as a leader is step away from the day-to-day and ask yourself:
What will this business look like in three years?
What could make this easier?
Where am I slowing things down?
When we hired a business coach, he pushed us to look at our numbers and how we were doing things instead of just solving the next problem. That shift helped us make better decisions.
You don’t have to predict the future perfectly. You just have to stop letting it happen by accident.
Change is constant in business. Laws change. Markets change. Customers’ expectations change.
In Texas, when the state eliminated safety inspections, it changed a big part of the automotive industry almost overnight. Many shops depended on that income.
Leaders who adapt don’t panic, they adjust.
As a result, we started doing more alignments, brakes and maintenance, and changed how we ran things so we weren’t depending on one part of the business.
There are a few habits that make this easier:
Looking at your numbers regularly. Numbers will tell you what’s really going on faster than opinions will.
Being willing to change how you do things. What worked five years ago might not work today.
Letting go of ego. Sometimes you have to admit something isn’t working and fix it.
Leadership isn’t about avoiding change. It’s about being able to keep building even when things around you change.
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