“You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.” ~ David Allen. Why then, are so many people in business hesitant to delegate? I have asked this question to countless individuals and the amazing realization is that the answers are virtually alike. There are many reasons given.
Here are the top five, starting with:
- Time. There is not enough of it to explain and show the task that has to be completed. This is a paradox as delegation, in fact, saves time. The major reason for delegating is that you spend your time where it needs to be spent for your career to flourish and not doing the things that do not move that career in its logical progression. It may not be time that you are really concerned about regarding delegation, but rather;
- Control. You are relinquishing something that you normally do and therefore, may be staking your reputation on that person and therefore, it is best that you do it yourself. Really? If you were to be tragically injured and could not perform any of your duties are you willing to have your business and reputation falter to the point that it no longer exists? Does it then not make sense to have others carry on the way that you do while you recover? You are not afraid of losing control, but instead you know you can do it;
- Better. Well, of course, you can. You have been doing it all along and have that skill set mastered. However, the person you are delegating to do it is doing it for the first time. Reality is that in order to have a full functioning career, others have to step in when you can’t (see number 2 and the tragic accident). Also, again as in number 1, it frees up your time for you to do the things that make you more successful. No, it’s not that they can’t do it as well as you that worries you. It’s the fact that if you let them do it, you will not get the;
- Credit. Credit is given when credit is due. If the person you delegated the task to does gets a huge credit for doing the task, who do you think gets the credit for putting that person in charge of that task? Remember, the better your team looks, the better you look. No, the biggest fear you may have in delegating is that they may;
- Fail. If they fail, it will be a reflection on you and you in turn fail. That certainly may be true. However, if you have taken the time, showed them how to do it, coached them along the way and checked back frequently to make sure it is being done correctly, especially the first couple of times, then who fails? In order to have a cohesive team, everyone must be able to step in at any time to do a merriet of tasks
The reward for delegating, are obviously immeasurable. The question then becomes, why are you not doing more of it?
In The Action Suite, we will give you the tools, knowledge, and know how to implement immediately all that you will need in order to delegate effectively, efficiently and most importantly, immediately so that you may do what you need to do for your continued success. When will you be ready to start?