What’s that thing everyone says?
Good leaders know how to delegate.
And, my friends, if this isn’t true, I don’t know what is.
I’m super pumped you decided to check in today with us.
This is a massive topic in the world of management and leadership, and it’s one near and dear to my heart.
Today, we’re talking about the importance of delegation and clarity on this topic.
Delegation is important, not as something to just hand off undesirable tasks but to give tasks to those best suited to effectively completing the job. Look for who will do the job best, how they need to get it done, what they need to accomplish it well, and set up a timeline for the delegation.
Let’s dive in and get some more clarity on this topic, my friends.
What’s The Inspiration For Writing On Delegation?
I’m always connecting with my audience, and I love talking with them.
When we reached out and said, “Hey, what do you want to hear about?” one of our good clients wanted to talk about delegation.
I geeked out a bit; I’ll admit.
Let’s be clear.
This could be a nine-part, nine-month, nine-week, and 90-day series, right?
But today, I really want to focus on delegation, clarity, and the importance of it all.
Everything begins with clarity.
That’s the first dimension of change in the new book I just wrote called The Six Dimensions Of Change 2.0.
Check it out on this website, but even better, join the email list and look for sales days, am I right?
Clarity and Importance Of Delegation: Why?
Here’s what we want you to think about when it comes to delegation and clarity:
- Why do you want to delegate?
- What are the things you want to delegate?
- How’s it going to change?
Improve your life; shift your mindset.
Now I want you to think about what you can really accomplish in your life.
What can you really do?
One of my mentors taught me, early on, the saying: I can do anything on the planet.
I can do anything in the world.
…as long as I don’t have to do it.
I love this saying; it cracks me up.
But there’s a nugget of truth in there we need to dig into a bit.
As a leader, you can do anything in the world.
But as a single person, you’re limited in your potential.
This is where delegation steps in.
Why do we delegate? – To reach our potential and to reach our team’s potential.
It’s to add value to the world in our unique ways.
What Is Delegation, Really?
Now I’m not talking about delegating to simply offload onto somebody else or bury somebody else with a challenging situation.
I am talking about the opportunity to work in my unique ability more and allow others to work in their unique ability.
There are some things that I absolutely cannot love at all.
I can’t do it.
I actually despise it.
There are people that absolutely love those types of things.
So what about this?
When you’re doing something you don’t love to do, what if you’re robbing somebody on the planet from doing what they truly want to do?
No, you don’t understand, Kenny. Nobody wants to do some of these things.
I’ll give you that.
However, I want to talk to you about four different things in regard to delegation because delegation will set you free.
But it all begins with your mindset.
Change Your Delegation Mindset
I’m going to tell you right now: your mindset needs to shift around delegation. You cannot be all things to all people.
Here’s a big surprise:
You are not the best at everything that you do.
Take a step back and look at yourself.
You have some areas where you’re really good at something.
How do you want to implement those things into your daily life? More often?
When I think about freedom, one of the number one values I have in life is freedom.
And it’s impossible for me to execute that value if I’m not getting things off of my plate.
I can’t scale businesses. I can’t scale income or wealth or a lot of things in life.
It’s not possible if I have to be involved in every single thing.
With that comes fear.
However, the flip side of that is freedom, right?
Want to learn more about mastering change? Check out these 4 steps for handling Change Triggers.
When I Realized The Importance Of Delegation
In 2007, fairly early in my career (though I guess I was at it for 13 years or something at that point), I took a six-month motorhome trip.
I took a break away from my brick and mortar service business.
I went and traveled around the country, and I spoke about once a month or so.
Here’s the reality:
Most of my mentors said you’re crazy, Kenny, you can’t do it.
Your business isn’t big enough.
You don’t have a strong enough team.
It’s not time; you can’t.
I admitted they might be right, but I knew there was a lot to learn for my team and myself in such an adventure.
I saw the road ahead, and I knew I wasn’t honoring my purpose and my strengths in how I was leading my company.
Honestly, I know I’m not meant for the day-to-day operation.
I’m doing this leadership coaching (and even back then as a small leader of a company) to help people improve their lives in their own unique situation.
The Delegation Struggle
My mentors at the time struggled with delegation.
I did too, but I knew I wasn’t living my purpose, and I wasn’t letting my teammates live their purpose.
Delegation seemed attractive, but I couldn’t cut the cord.
So I forced myself into a situation where I had to delegate with this trip.
Did I find holes in the business? Sure, I did.
Did the business crash and burn? No, it did not.
As a matter of fact, I had one of my greatest years ever.
You know, this is related to the Think and Grow Rich mentality. Check out the post at the link.
It’s kind of an interesting thing when you think:
Well, wait a minute.
What if this could exist without me?
What if there are some tasks that could happen without me?
I’m telling you, friends, there are things you don’t need to do.
And there are things only you can do.
The challenge is finding out what those things are.
On that journey, I found out my team members’ purposes. Rather, I helped them find it for themselves.
And I found my own.
I want to live like this, journeying and traveling and speaking and coaching.
On a side note, FORGET about retirement. Check out my post on the right way to retire.
Delegation Is Tied To Identity
Here’s the deal:
Delegation is tied to identity.
Meaning that the things that I don’t delegate, I have identity around.
It’s your thing.
Delegate the things that aren’t you, and the other side of the coin is:
The things you keep belong to you.
The Kenny Chapman website, blog, podcast, YouTube channel, this is around me.
This is what I own.
Therefore, my identity is tied to this.
However, when you look at the businesses that you’re operating in, what you’re doing, what you’re keeping on the point, this gives you identity.
When I took that six-month trip, I got identity from the fact that I didn’t have to be in the building all day, every day.
I was able to walk out of those doors and not walk back through the doors for six and a half months and run a very successful business.
During that period of time, that gave me identity.
There were thousands of decisions, tens of thousands of decisions that were made every single day, week, or month I was gone.
I wasn’t involved in those challenges.
It was hard at first because I felt I owned everything in this business, but I didn’t.
Your team members own the business too.
Let’s all take some ownership in the process.
4 Action Items For Embracing Delegation
I want to leave you with four major action items.
We’re talking about delegation clarity today.
This isn’t the entire process.
But today, I want to just snapshot four components of clarity around this.
#1 Who Before How, But After Why
Who is working with you is incredibly important.
Who you surround yourself with, who’s running your business, who you’re delegating to, and who you want to hand this task off to is critical to nail down.
Don’t set yourself up for failure by saying: I can’t do this task right now. Let me give it to someone else.
You want to set yourself up for success.
Now you’re asking: Who is the person best suited in my company, my business, and my life to handle this. Are they better than me?
This is where you start (after embracing the why which we talked about above).
#2 How Are You Going To Go About This
Don’t forget to keep the why in this entire process.
The why is to let everyone in your business live their purpose and honor their unique abilities.
This will result in better performance and joy in life for everyone involved.
Trust me.
So there’s a reason why you want to delegate this.
Now I want to bring it back to your forefront.
How are you going to go about it?
Why are you going about it in that way?
I don’t want to do this.
I’m not the best to do this.
Someone else is better suited.
It takes my energy away.
We have “stop doing lists” and “start doing lists.”
I work one-on-one with high-level business leaders, just like you, to help you get out of your way.
We stopped doing a lot of things that you’re doing.
Guess what?
Some of the things don’t even get delegated when you really take a step back and think about it.
Ask yourself to think about the best way to go about delegating.
Find the who; reflect on the how and why.
#3 Think About What You Need To Delegate Properly
The next thing we’ve got to make sure that you identify what is the clarity around the necessary growth.
What is the necessary education?
If you’re handing something off to somebody, do they already have the skills?
And even if you think that they might, that might be an inaccurate assumption on your part.
They might need some more training.
They might need a little different skill set.
Whatever it is, what do they need from an education standpoint to be able to execute effectively?
They can be very effective in doing it a little differently than you did, but it’s super important that you find out exactly what they need to know.
#4 Be Clear On A Delegation Timeline
You’ve got to have clarity around that last component.
You’ve got to be clear about a timeline.
Dates must be set, or it likely won’t get done.
If you don’t set a timeline for your who, how, or training, it’ll most likely fail.
Set up a timeline for every phase and part of the delegation, and then communicate it clearly to everyone involved.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to the importance of delegation and clarity around it, we need to be intentional.
We delegate to honor the purpose and unique ability of ourselves and our team members.
Once we decide to delegate, we first look at the people we work with.
Who is best suited to take on a task?
If it’s you, the leader, embrace it.
But if it’s someone else (and be honest), that’s awesome for them and you.
Then, plan how the delegation will get done and how you’ll work with the person to set them on the task.
Third, think about what they need to do their delegated task well.
Do they need more training or resources?
It’s your job to think of that and provide it.
Finally, set up a clear timeline on the entire process and share it with everyone.
Delegation is critical for managers and leaders to embrace.
We can’t do everything.
Not because we can’t, but because no one is the best at everything.
Your team has rock stars on it, just like you.
As leaders, we need to honor everyone’s unique abilities and rise together.
Now go, and make it a better-than-fantastic week!
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