Archive for delegation
On becoming an empowerer
Posted by: | CommentsThe ability to empower others is one of the keys to personal and professional success. John Craig remarked, “No matter how much work you can do, no matter how engaging your personality may be, you will not advance far in business if you cannot work through others.” And business executive J. Paul Getty asserted, “It doesn’t make much difference how much other knowledge or experience an executive possesses; if he is unable to achieve results through people, he is worthless as an executive.”
When you become an empowerer, you work with and through people, but you do much more. You enable others to reach the highest levels in their personal and professional development. Simply defined, empowering is giving your influence to others for the purpose of personal and organizational growth. It’s sharing yourself – your influence, position, power and opportunities – with others with the purpose of investing in their lives so that they can function at their best. It’s seeing people’s potential, sharing your resources with them, and showing them that you believe in them completely.
The act of empowering others changes lives, and it’s a win-win situation for you and the people you empower. Giving others your authority isn’t like giving away an object, such as your car. If you give away your car, you’re stuck. You no longer have transportation. But empowering others by giving them your authority has the same effect as sharing information: you haven’t lost anything. You have increased the ability of others without decreasing yourself.
The joy of not knowing…
Posted by: | CommentsSome people believe that great leaders have all the answers. Not true. Successful leaders don’t know everything. But they know people who do. If you ask me a question related to one of my organizations and I don’t know the answer, I know which person in the organization does. If you ask about my profession, I may not know the answer, but with a phone call or two, I can talk to someone who can answer the question. And if you ask about the details of my life and schedule and I don’t know the answer, I guarantee you there’s someone who does – my assistant.
For leaders, it’s okay not to know everything.
The most important decision I ever made to keep me focused and to simplify my life was to hire a top-notch assistant. For twenty-seven of the last thirty years of my life, I have been served by two wonderful assistants: Linda Eggers, and, before her, Barbara Brumagin. Their value to me has been enormous.
My assistant is the primary hub of information for my life. Everything flows to and through her. I trust Linda Eggers to know everything so that I don’t have to. More importantly, she has learned to sift information and grasp the most important details. When we communicate, Linda gives me the main thing, which enables me to see what to do next, helps me to know why it is important, and empowers me to bring the appropriate resources to bear on the need at hand.
Because Linda is the center of information for my life, she knows the good, the bad, and the ugly. That works because I trust her completely. And when she tells me bad news, I am careful not to “shoot the messenger.” Taking out your frustrations on the people who bring you bad news quickly stops the flow of communication.
For leaders, it’s okay not to be the first to know.
Most people have a strong natural desire to be “in the know.” That’s why gossip magazines and tabloid newspapers sell so well. Leaders also have a strong desire to be “in the know” when it comes to their organizations. No leader likes to be blindsided. However, good leaders can’t afford to be caught up in every little detail of the organization. If they do, they lose their perspective and their ability to lead.
In any organization, problems should always be solved at the lowest level possible. If every problem must be shared with leaders first, then solutions take forever. Besides, the people on the front lines are usually the ones who provide the best solutions, whether it’s on the production line, the battle line, or the breadline.
Taking myself out of the middle of everything lessens my personal importance to many people in my organizations, but it allows me to do that which is personally important to me. It also means that assignments are not always done “my way.” But I have discovered that most things can be accomplished effectively in many ways.
What about you? Are you determined to know everything that goes on in your organization or department? Do you get a thrill from being the first to know? Do you live by the motto, “If you want something done right, do it yourself”? If so, you are complicating your life and risking burnout. This only limits you as a leader. Begin relying on other people and cultivating trust in them. Only then can you be free to focus on the most important things.
Adapted from Leadership Gold: Lessons I’ve Learned
from a Lifetime of Leading
Greetings from Asia!
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s Monday evening here in Manila, Philippines. I arrived on Sunday, and since then I’ve been adjusting to the time difference and revisiting the wonderful culture and cuisine here. Although I wasn’t too disappointed to be greeted at the airport with…
Krispy Kreme Donuts!
Yes, my hosts met me with a box of Krispy Kremes. One more reason why this is going to be a fantastic visit to Asia.
At the last minute, Margaret and I decided that she would stay behind. We’re doing some renovations on our home, and we both thought it wise for her to be available to the contractors. Of course, this means that my hosts here have to put up with me alone – without her gracious presence. But as usual, they are taking great care of me.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) I speak here. Then I’m off to Shanghai, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur to talk more about leadership and dreams. I’ll be back on American soil the first week of July.
This isn’t my first visit to this continent, and I truly love teaching in Asia. Even when I experience a language barrier, I can sense the hunger and desire to grow in everyone I meet.
In a few venues, I’ll get a chance to teach on the message of my book, Put Your Dream to the Test. The idea of examining your dreams has connected in every culture I’ve shared it with so far. And I look forward to seeing people’s reactions here.
If you want to know more about Put Your Dream to the Test, you can use the “look inside” feature on Amazon.com.
I’m trying to share some of my day-to-day experiences via Twitter. So be sure to follow me if you want to stay up-to-date.
Magandang gabi!
(“Good evening” in Tagalog)
(Yes, I had help with that.)
You’re doing too much on your own.
Posted by: | CommentsI 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.
