You’d be surprised how many business owners get this wrong.

It seems you can’t get your employees to do anything right. They tell you one thing to get hired and then they get to the job and sit on their hands, or worse. You end every conversation with the thought “I can‘t believe I had to tell him/her to do that.” And slowly your faith in people slides further into the gutter.

So what now?

Behind all of that thinking is an assumption that is the biggest problem small business owners have. Why can’t everyone be like me? Phrased this way, it is obvious where the issue lies – if they were like you, they would have their own company with their own entrepreneurial spirit beating at the heart of their business.

But, not everyone is like you.

That’s actually a good thing. Could you imagine working for yourself?

In most cases, you pay someone less than you would expect to make and ask them to make decisions at the same level you do. Would someone with all the talents and skills you require, including mind reading and perpetually chipper attitude actually work for what you are willing to pay? Can you hire the lowest bidder and expect top tier results?

In most cases the answer is no.

It’s not your fault. You have applied bargain hunting tactics to a process involving people. You used an financial skill in an interpersonal situation – and you have bought your way into a difficult management challenge.

But if what you have been doing has not worked, then you must learn a new way to manage your employees and take them from liabilities to assets.

Stop fighting and start leading your company to greatness. The “challenge” of internal employees shouldn’t be one – you should savor the chance to have you and your team work together to carve a living out of the marketplace. You must create a high performing team of people you can trust.

To do this, you need to hire well, train well, support well, coach well, and reward well. Each of those takes some time and effort to set up in your business. Much of it requires a different thought process than you may be used to. If you look only at the balance sheet – this will be hard for you to start.

If you look at the future, a future with goals, you will find that the only way to grow is to build your A-Team.

The alternative is stagnation.