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Delegate or Perish

July 8, 2016 by ron kitchens 2 Comments

Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results. – George S. Patton

Delegation: I do not know a single successful leader who thinks they are great at it. Even those that focus on delegation still take on more than they should. My grandfather told me as a child, “you can only put five pounds in a five pound bag and you must take things out to put things in.” Many times we have to remove the things that we are good at and enjoy so we can pursue what could be great. It is just like a vine, if we want to increase the crop and the quality of the grapes that are produced; we have to trim the vine. The vintner knows that they must remove those branches that produced healthy grapes last year to make room for this year’s harvest. Leadership is much the same.

I see a lot of leaders wait until they are stressed beyond capacity, then they begin to jettison responsibilities away in order to gain some capacity and save themselves. That is not delegation that is not leadership, it is abdication. Great leaders understand that delegation is a decision, it is not abdication. Take a good look at your calendar, and ask yourself an age old question, “What is on my calendar that somebody else could do as well or better than I do it?” If we are being really honest with each other, you probably do not have the capacity to surpass what you are doing today and to drive excellence in your organization until you hand something over, until you trim your branches.

In my own experience, I have to ask myself, “What did people trust me with when I was young in my leadership that I’m not trusting people with today?” The fact of the matter is that nobody will be great at something until they do it. Unless you hired in somebody who is a clone of you, they will not be as good at it or better than you until you give them a chance to succeed. That is what great leaders do; they empower their team to seek excellence, not just balance what is on their plate. I am pleading with you, for the sake of your leadership, team and family, to comb through your calendar today and find what you are holding onto that is stopping you from being your greatest self, stopping your wine from being the best, stopping you from lifting up others and make a change today.

Always Forward.
Ron

Question: What is on my calendar that somebody else could do as well or better than I do it?

Filed Under: Excellence, Leadership, Talent Tagged With: capacity, delegation, leadership, Ron Kitchens, Southwest Michigan First, talent

Comments

  1. Donna King says

    July 8, 2016 at 11:17 am

    Ron, Great advice.
    Looking for ways to motivated a non motivated co-worker. He is much younger than me and not sure how to light his fire when working together. He will allow you to do most of his work then try to take credit for it with upper management.
    I’m for any suggestions.
    Thanks,
    Donna King

    Reply
    • ron kitchens says

      July 12, 2016 at 7:50 am

      Donna

      You cannot motivate anyone; they have to own it themselves. If a child will not put their clothes in the wash, you let them wear dirty clothes, then and only then will they be motivated to do the right thing. I hope this helps.

      Ron

      Reply

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