DELEGATING: Doing More With Less of You

Don’t try to do it all yourself. Delegate.
Every time you develop a “to do” list, ask yourself three questions:

a. Which of these tasks do I absolutely have to do myself?
b. Which of these tasks should I or could I share with others?
c. Which of these tasks should I or could I delegate to others?

If you find that every time you are saying you have to do everything yourself, you need to improve your delegation skills. No one can do everything themselves – that's why there are multiple members to teams. I remember I had a boss once who told me since I was going to do everything myself, he would just get rid of the rest of the team. He was kidding, of course, but his message was loud and clear: if I didn’t use the other members of the team to accomplish the task, then I really didn’t need them. Delegating relieves you of a lot of tasks and thus reduces your work load and stress level (important factors in remaining a strong leader, not just becoming a strong leader.)

But delegating is more than just having others help so you don’t have to do it all yourself. It is a reflection of the degree you want to empower and develop the team members. How can anyone feel they are a worthwhile member of a team, if they are not allowed to do anything? Leaders who do not allow staff to reach their full potential are not really “leading.“

Less stress for yourself and more empowerment for team members: delegating is one leadership tip that is a true win-win situation.

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