We all know the strength of a collective group of people is always stronger than just one. I find when I get really busy sometimes it is easy to forget this. Recently I was working with a Senior Leader who was talking about the massive hours that she was putting in. She had been working until 9 or 10pm every night for the last 2 weeks and was starting to feel exhausted.
“There is just not enough hours in a day” was her response. I asked her what she was delegating to her staff. “I don’t really have anyone to delegate to, my two senior staff members have left and the other six are younger and really don’t have the experience yet.”
Unfortunately, this is a common response that I hear when people have been so busy that they have stopped leading and just jumped into the trenches and began working with their head down. I asked her a question, “So tell me why some of the younger ones could not do some smaller tasks for you?”
At this point she looked at me with a frustrated scowl on her face. She then used the common excuse that most managers use, that by the time she explained to them how to do it, she could have done the task herself. I agree that she could have probably done the task faster the first time, however the point she was missing was twofold: Firstly she was not building up the capability and learning of her younger staff, so it was a missed opportunity to develop them. Secondly, she was overloading herself with a number of similar tasks that could be done by someone that was well below her pay grade. (I can hear many CEOs complain of the same thing, why am I paying someone $250,000 to do the tasks of someone that is paid $75,000?)
So what should you be delegating? What tasks could you share with others and turn this into a development opportunity? Yes it may take a few minutes to explain, but you will both be better in the long run!
If you would like to learn a number of strategies and gain some inspiration on leading, you should attend the Hands Leadership Bytes Online Conference. It takes place on the 10th of September from 10am-3pm AEST. You will learn from Yasmin London on Optimising Online Wellbeing with staff as well as how to be more agile from Amanda Stevens. There are also 15 other incredible leadership and business speakers who will help stretch your mindset and provide you with inspiration.
If you would like to find out more please go to the Leadership Bytes Website. Also if you would like a book that gives you some practical insights to be more effective in Leading, pick up a copy of my book Leadership Hacks here.
