I get asked all the time about my busy schedule, and how I find time to accomplish all the things that I do.
When I answer that I delegate as much as I can, people nod in recognition. But I can tell that they’re not really satisfied with my answer. That’s because every leader “knows” about delegation. But most have had one of two experiences with it.
They either hold onto as much as they can and only give away what they absolutely cannot do themselves, OR they try to dump everything on unprepared and unsuspecting followers. The result? Burnout … or a train wreck.
So how do you avoid the extremes and make delegation work for you?
Create a culture of development.
I often hear from leaders who admire my assistant Linda Eggers, or my writer Charlie Wetzel. They’re amazed at how much I feel comfortable handing off to one or the other. And invariably, they ask, “How can I get someone of that caliber on my team?”
My answer is always the same. Find someone with the ability and willingness to learn, and then invest a lot of time in their lives.
With everyone who works closely with me, my goal is to teach them to think like I do. So at the beginning, I pour a lot of myself into them.
I don’t just make decisions and ask them to implement them. I share my thought processes and encourage them to tell me what they think I would do.
Linda, Charlie, John Hull (president of EQUIP)… Because of our time spent in development, I can now trust each one to make decisions and communicate the same way I would.
Give away everything you can.
It may seem to you that I give away some pretty important tasks. You’re right; I do. And that makes me unusual.
Generally, the more important a task is to the leader, the more tightly they hold onto it. Even if it’s not a good use of their gifts or it keeps them from doing other things.
So regardless of the task’s importance…
1. If someone else can do a task better than I can, I give it away.
And I’ve discovered that I do only four things really well: lead, communicate, create, and network. I routinely give everything else, such as administrative and financial tasks, to the experts.
2. If someone else can do a task at least 80% as well as I can, I give it to them.
John Hull, in his role as president of EQUIP, my nonprofit organization, came to me as an already seasoned leader and communicator. From the beginning, I felt confident handing the reins of the organization. And over the years, we’ve spent a lot of time together. Now he knows even better how I think. I’ve always been proud to have him represent me, so much that if you want a picture of how I would personally lead, I’d tell you to just look at him.
3. If someone else has the potential to do a task at least 80% as well as I can, I train them.
When Charlie Wetzel started researching for me, he gave me material that was of no interest or use to me. But I didn’t take that as evidence that I’d better hold onto that task. Instead, I came up with a process for teaching Charlie to look for material the way I would.
Here’s what we did: We would both read the same book of inspirational quotes and mark those that we thought were good. Then we’d compare our notes. At first, 90% of our choices didn’t agree. So I’d explain to him why I did or did not choose certain quotes, and we’d try again with a different book. Within a few months, Charlie and I agreed on 90% of all research material. We trained in a similar way with writing.
Today, fifteen years later, Charlie knows what I want before I do! He truly reads my mind and writes in my style. He knows my idiosyncrasies and my passions. Because of this, Charlie can take my material and make it better. He rewrites my writing and improves what I want to say. And I agree with 98% of his choices.
Take a look at your delegating style. What are you dumping without development? What are you holding onto that’s stealing time from your priorities?
If you take time to train your people, you can trust their thinking enough to let them do even the most important tasks well. Then you can use your best energies to do the things you do best.
17 responses so far ↓
1 Carolina Mama // Mar 11, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Mr. Maxwell, as a Mama even I can really appreciate this post. Thanks for sharing and a warm Welcome to Twitter and this blog! God Bless.
2 Laura // Mar 11, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Thanks for the insight. I’ve worked with people who had not clue how to delegate and some who didn’t want to because of past failures. I’ve learned how to some, but you just showed me how to more!
3 Ben // Mar 11, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Excellent! Just passed this out to our pastoral team! Thank you for posting!
4 Larry Johnson // Mar 11, 2009 at 4:52 pm
John,
Thank you for your direct approach to this important quality of a leader. I have really struggled with delegation but am doing better with it thanks, in part, to the challenges from your books. Thanks!
5 Cheri // Mar 11, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Love this blog…I appreciate your sharing on delegation and the process behind it. Much to think about!
6 Andrea // Mar 11, 2009 at 11:40 pm
A question..
Your approach is absolutely the best from a long-term perspective.
But if you work as a consultant or interim manager in the organization, how do you balance this investment in people with the need of meet short term goals?
Hope it is clear.
Thanks,
Andrea from Italy
7 John G. // Mar 12, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Andrea-
I’m sure you want an answer from the man himself, but I’d thought I’d take a crack at it.
No real fixes are quick. As a consultant, we do culture revamping. It can take a couple of months to really lay out what company “says” it’s about and what it “acts” like it is about.
Once we get those two to line up, we start with the C-Level employees and coach them, since we can’t spend time with every person. We then lead them in the process of replication.
They replicate the company culture and the coaching to their direct reports. You can see where I am going, right?
Then we establish a 360 degree review system, making sure everyone is signing from the same book, headed towards the same goals.
Lastly, we set the proper expectations with the client (timed bench marks), so that we are hitting their goals in a time that is practical while still being realistic that the right fixes take time.
Just MHO.
8 tim hiles // Mar 15, 2009 at 8:19 pm
a long way from round town as kids running around the old camp ground you have done well tim hiles chillicothe o
9 Christopher Lake // Mar 17, 2009 at 12:19 am
Mr. Maxwell,
I am confused about something on your blog, and I don’t know if you have the time to answer my question here, but I thought I would ask. I have often seen your books in the” Christian” section of bookstores and in Christian catalogs. However, when I click the “About” link, both here and at your official website, there is no mention of anything about Christ or Christianity. Specifically here, at your blog, you write, “Now here’s what you really need to know about me,” and there is nothing about God, Christ, the Bible, or your being a Christian. Why is that? I’m honestly curious. Thank you for your time.
10 Jim Martin // Mar 22, 2009 at 5:01 am
John,
Thanks for your reminder about delegation. It is something that I have to work on all the time.
In a breif response to Christopher Lake, you must not read John’s material, listen to his CDs or attend his seminars. This is a man who tells everyone that he learned his leadership from the Bible, talks about his years as a pastor often and even does a simulcast yearly to try and connect the Church and the secular world.
11 paul’s blog // Mar 23, 2009 at 3:50 pm
[...] Don’t be a control freak – learn to delegate. (See this incredible post by John C Maxwell.) [...]
12 David J Hawke // Apr 20, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Delegation is a great source of freedom and your comments are so valuable John. Thank you.
What do you think about this comment: “If you delegate a task only expect 75% of that task to be done exactly the way you would do it, but look for, and rejoice in, the way the other 25% of that task is done uniquely and freshly by the person you have delegated to.”
13 Nugie // Apr 24, 2009 at 6:42 am
Hi John,
What a practical teaching on delegation! What should we do if we are working with a manager who is totally the opposite to what you explained? To make it worst, he is a work-alcoholic and love to micro manage everything. He forces us that we must do things on how he wants not allowing our creativity.
Thanking you in advance
14 Ron // Apr 30, 2009 at 4:45 am
John, Thanks for posting this on your blog. This is something that is becoming more and more something that I need to do in my life as the responsibilities keep growing. I have struggled with this in the past, but I am seeing how powerful this can be.
15 Mani // Jul 11, 2009 at 9:27 am
Good post. learning the art of delegation. Hope one day i would be the master in delegating.
Thanks John.
16 Nicole S. Cooper // Jul 25, 2009 at 6:42 am
All I can say is “CONFIRMATION, CONFIRMATION, CONFIRMATION”. I just recently saw a video sharing this same content and I’ve recently posted an ad seeking a Personal Assistant for this very reason. It is obvious that a man of your caliber has to have a powerful team behind you to accomplish all that you do and still be able to get some sleep! I’m learning the power in delegating and outsourcing!
Thanks again so much for sharing, and I would like to share the video that I recently watched that shared the value in outsourcing to a team.
http://media.mlmleadsystempro.com/videos/41_webinar_062409_oliver_outsource/
Nicole S. Cooper
http://www.ViralMarketingGeeks.com
17 Nicole S. Cooper // Jul 25, 2009 at 6:44 am
Confirmation, Confirmation, Confirmation!