I’d start with the work. What’s waiting to be done? What are you doing yourself that someone else could own? Is the work there consistently, or does it build up at particular times?
Then I’d want to understand the cost. There’s the pay, but also the time you’ll spend finding, training and managing someone. We need to consider that alongside what the business can support and the work the person could take on.
What happens to the work when you’re not there?
It’s worth being specific about responsibility before writing the job description. What could this person decide without coming back to you? What would need your approval? What would a good result look like?
You may still need to hire. Or you may discover that the immediate problem is how work gets handed over, how priorities are set or how often a decision waits for you.
We haven’t decided that in advance. We’re trying to understand what needs to change before adding a commitment to the business.
This is a proposed example of the coaching conversation, not an account of a client engagement or a previously published Sunday issue.