There is so much work to get done. You finish the day and you’ve barely made a dent in the to-do-list. You wonder if you can get it all accomplished and keep your health and family intact! If your days usually go something like this, then it’s probably time to get some help.
You might not need professional help, but it’s time to pass on some responsibilities to someone else. This will free you up to do what you do best and give someone a chance to flourish with new responsibilities.
Here is the golden rule of delegation:
You should never ask someone to do something for you that you are (a) not willing to do yourself, or (b) you have not done before.
Dirty delegation is having others do for you what you don’t want to do. This is ok if you are hiring a cleaning service, not ok if you want to increase your influence and the morale of your team.
Delegation should accomplish a couple of things:
1. It should free you from doing things you aren’t the best at.
When you have to do something, you just find a way to get it done. But not everything that needs to get done is in your wheel house.
When you delegate responsibilities to others, you begin to connect the puzzle pieces by giving the right tasks to the right person.
This also means you can focus more of your energy on the things you are good at.
2. It should free your time.
When you are doing things just because they need to get done, you are investing time in less than optimal ways.
You should spend your energy doing things that will move you forward, not just fill up your time. (Tweet This!)
The goal isn’t just movement, its productive movement.
3. It will empower others to grow in their abilities.
Experiential learning is the best kind of learning. It’s one thing to learn about something from a book, and another to get involved in actually doing.
When you delegate responsibilities to others, you are giving someone the opportunity to grow.
4. Delegation allows you to give tests without compromising the mission
Leaders should always be looking for their replacement. Delegation allows you to test someone without giving too much away.
If they fail, nothing critical will happen. The mission is compromised. If they succeed, you can build on that victory and given them more!
You won’t always be the person doing what you do today. Someone else will have your chair, your title or your office someday. If you can be seen as a person that can raise leaders, you will become extremely valuable to your organization.
The next generation of leaders is looking for their big break. They are looking for a chance to prove themselves. They just need the opportunity.
It’s time to pass the baton. The more you can delegate to emerging leaders, the larger your influence can be.
How has delegation made you more productive and influential?
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