I Won It
Let me tell you a quick story:
After spending years at my company, slowly working my way up from an executive assistant position to a team lead, I had won a promotion into a new department. It is important to me that I reiterate that this promotion was not given to me – I won it. I had been up against several other internal and external candidates, and had put in the time and work to win this position.
What To Do With It
Of course, after winning this promotion, I wanted to wow my new team, impress the executives above me, and prove to the company that they made the right choice in choosing me for the position. As new tasks and problems presented themselves, I found myself trying to figure it all out on my own. I found myself working nights and weekends in an effort to get all the work handled. While I was the new manager of a new staff with new demands, I refused to ask for help out of fear. Fear of what?
Weakness.
I Couldn’t Keep Up With What I Won
Before long, I found myself unable to keep up with work demands. Tasks began to slip through the cracks and accounts were lost. After only two months, I had been called into my manager’s office to discuss my performance. It was during this probationary meeting that I learned the most important lesson in being a female executive: Delegation is not a dirty word.
Delegation Is Not A Dirty Word
The reality is that most of us find delegating hard to do. We fear that we’re passing off our dirty work onto someone else, and fear that our inability to do everything will be seen as a sign of weakness. It turns out that most of us don’t understand exactly what delegation actually is.
Delegation Is Empowerment
Delegation should never be about passing off the work that you don’t want to do, but rather it should be seen as an opportunity of empowerment for another team member. Generally speaking, your team wants to do good work and wants their opportunity to shine and contribute to the success of the organization. Delegation is not only necessary to have all the work done and done well, but it is a crucial opportunity for all members of the team to contribute and prove their capabilities.
Delegation Leads To Success
We must abandon the idea that “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself”. That type of thinking is flawed and destructive to any organization. Delegation is an opportunity to spread the work and thereby spreading the success amongst an entire team. Delegation is not a sign of weakness or laziness, but rather a sign of confidence in your team and a desire to succeed. Delegation is the key to healthy businesses and should always be considered among the best practices of business executives.
I Finally Managed What I Won
After having this meeting with my manager, I began to delegate my responsibilities. To my amazement and the happiness of upper management, the results were stunning and fast. Within two months, our team had posted a sales increase of 20% and overtime hours had been all but eliminated. Delegation is not a selfish act – it is a gift to each other. It is time we start to treat it as such.
Until then, Be Limitless and Discover Your Next.
What’s Your Next?
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