How many of us have been molded by the adage, “If you want something done right, then do it yourself.” This may work well if you work for yourself, but not if you are leading others. In fact, if you have this mentality as you lead others, then they will sense this and will probably underachieve. It’s kind of like being a husband who goes out of his way to clean the bathroom thinking he’s doing something kind for his wife, to then come home to find her redoing it because you didn’t do it just right. How many times would this need to happen for you to come to the realization that this is a waste of time because one, she doesn’t appreciate it, and two, she’s redoing it anyways. This is how the people you lead feel when they don’t feel appreciated, affirmed, and believe you think they are competent to do a great job.
Empower Others
On the other side of the coin, people will bend over backwards to go the extra mile and do a great job when they know you care about them, affirm them, and appreciate them both as a person and as a colleague. Don’t miss what I just said there. People you lead want you to care and appreciate them first and more importantly as a PERSON than simply someone who works for you. When people believe you have their best in mind and have confidence in them, then you are empowering them to realize their fullest potential. This, in turn, will give you confidence to delegate more things to them because you have developed a relationship with this person and together you will accomplish great things.
Create Ownership
Great leaders know how to get buy-in from others because everyone knows they’re a valuable part of the TEAM, which creates in each individual a shared goal and desire to fulfill the vision. When I know that I matter and what I bring to the team matters, then I become a co-owner of the values, the objectives and the vision. It becomes WE and not I. Conversely, the quickest way to destroy this personal ownership is to delegate something to someone on your team, and then mid-way through the process, pull the rug out from underneath them. Another way is to step in and take over. And maybe the worst is to get to the finish line and you take the full credit for what your team accomplished never recognizing them. As leaders, we need to understand that we are dealing with real people and we need to work at really wanting the best for each of our team members. We SHOULD want them to shine, to do great, to get the credit and feel great about their contribution. If it’s about you as the leader, then I think you’ve probably missed something along the line.
Be Clear
It’s imperative for someone to be successful that they have clarity as to what the expectations, values, and objectives are in order to accomplish the vision. There’s nothing more frustrating for both the leader and the one being led than constantly running into miscommunications. Think about it, if you are the one who’s been given the task to do such and such, you start running. You think you’re doing a great job and making progress only to find out after a month that what you’ve done was not what your leader wanted. This is a waste of time and resources, and it makes you look bad and sets you further behind. Meanwhile, the leader is frustrated with you, is behind the deadline, and has gotten less accomplished. Thus, the rule of thumb is to be clear as possible on the front end, and then communicate regularly along the way so you can both be assured of the direction you’re heading.
Take the time to delegate clearly and you’ll start finding tremendous fulfillment in watching your teams reach their fullest potential.
