Chasing Dollar Bills

Some leaders get distracted by casting a vision and forget how much more important it is to be chasing dollar bills. Anybody can have a vision, but it takes a real leader to fight for the small bucks.

By “fight for the small bucks,” I refer to making any decision which might save a dollar or two. These decisions require tons of time, which is much less valuable than money, obviously.

Who can put a price on money?! Time is cheap in comparison — even poor people have it!

I spend my hours agonizing over details in our purchasing protocol in order to save a dollar bill here and there. Often times I will redo a purchasing order and search for a slightly cheaper price on my own.

I still personally make the phone calls that involve chasing dollar bills. I handle all rebates and coupons on office supplies. A ten dollar rebate for a toner cartridge is taking too long? I’m all over it, even though it usually requires three hours on the phone. Twenty-five dollar fee on my bank account? I would spend weeks in court to sort it out.

If you don’t have a good hold on money, some small percentage of it might blow away with the wind. Grip your money tightly, and run after dollar bills blown down the street if they escape your grasp.

Always Chasing,
W. Albert Jameson, IV

PS – To free up more of my time to save the company money, I just delegated much of the “vision-casting” (whatever that is) and project planning to an underling.


On the other hand…
Your followers are lost without a solid leader to stop counting dollar bills and focus on the vision. Your business can recover if you lose some money or overspend, but it will never thrive without a culture of leadership and looking to the future. Put the bottom line where it belongs — at the bottom — and place your vision for the company at the top.

You can always earn more money.
-Andrew

What issues distract you from the roles only you can fulfill? What seems important for you to do, but can easily be done by others?