If you find yourself as a leader seeking to let things go, to delegate to others, yet when it comes to it you still feel the need to “just take a look at it”, to put your stamp on it, to “approve it before it goes out”, then perhaps you are, well, simply human!
I speak from personal experience, and also in hundreds and hundreds of conversations with leaders over the years, that one of the most common issues when seeking to grow as a leader, to help others grow, to grow your business, is to “let go”.
So, for you, I have two things to share with you to consider.
First, is a thought someone gave me on a conversaton this week. When you feel like stepping in to take over, or simply to “add something” or “edit a little to polish it”, ask yourself this:
Will I be doing it better? or simply differently?
Second, to help you consider whether your involvement is the right thing, consider the impact you doing it will have.
Look at impact in two ways. First, ask yourself what impact you getting involved will have on quality. Will you make it 5% better or 50% better, for example?
The second way to look at impact is to consider what impact it will have on others if you get involved. Will it be positive, or negative? Think about it, you will know the answer (hint, short term it may be positive, but long term if you never let go, it can only be negative as you keep that hold on the reins).
A personal story dates back over fifteen years, back when I was closely involved in large marketing projects and campaigns. I used to have “final say” on all the words and visuals for everything that went out the door. I was really good at it, leading several teams across various disciplines and it worked, really well. However, as it scaled, I felt it was time to hand over key areas to people in the team, so I did. However, a moment came when a visual for a key campaign was sent to me to approve. I looked at it, then it hit me. Up until that point I had always (always!) sent back comments to edit and improve everything. In this moment, though, I thought: “I would do it differently, but this is at least 95% of the way there, so let me instead consciously NOT add any edits”. I emailed back with my approval and said words almost exactly to this effect: “As you know, I’ve always sent back at least some edits every time on everything. However, it is time for me to let go of doing that, so yes, I could send through a few “Tom” edits, but no, I won’t be doing so. This is great work and it is your work. Approved to go!”.
I worked in the same building as that person, so a few minutes later they walked into my office. I was on the phone, so they simply nodded and mouthed the words “thank you”, smiled and walked away. From that point on, we agreed that they wouldn’t send stuff for me to review and approve unless they themselves felt they really wanted my input. You know what? Within a short period, I saw a marketing piece up in the public domain that made me smile when I saw it, and for two reasons. First, I hadn’t ever seen it, had no idea it was going out, certainly hadn’t approved it or otherwise been sent it. Second, and far more powerfully, it was not just as good as I would have done, it was better. They were doing it differently, and better.
“Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.”
~ John Maxwell