Never hire an assistant

Nassim Taleb says in his book Skin in the Game that the best advice he ever got was from a successful and happy entrepreneur, Yossi Vardi, who told him never to hire an assistant.

The reason? You will end up doing things that you only enjoy and start living your life from this place, a place where you don’t have skin on the game.

This is not a new idea, Miró spent his afternoons answering letters and never ever hired an assistant for this job.

The criteria for delegation shouldn’t be based on ‘I don’t want to do this’. When you hire an assistant to communicate with others, to handle meetings, to put barriers between you and the people that you want to serve and work with you, you’re losing something; connection and authenticity.

Picture by Ellen Forsyth

#assistance #authenticity