You Have To Let Them Fall
By VICKY BROWN
OK, this one is for my fellow CEOs. You know who you are.
Alright, so you think you know how to Delegate – but do you know how to Delegate, capital D?
You know, there’s more to delegating than turning over the task. Here’s what I mean.
Recently I finally got it drilled in my head that with a team of almost 15, high functioning, committed team members – well, I don’t need to have my fingers and toes in Every situation, and Every decision. In fact, the leaders on my Leadership Team are great at reinforcing to me that not only is everything getting done – it’s probably getting done much more effectively than I could do it – because I’m just one person.
Well, once I got that in my head, I finally started thinking about, and working on, those long passed over ideas and projects that (as the CEO and holder of the Idomeneo vision) really do sit squarely in my sandbox.
Developing products, working on ways to provide more value to our clients, getting our name out there.
It takes practice, and I’m not perfect at it, but I’m finally working on the right things at the right time.
But – to be fair, there is always the ‘pull’ You know, that little voice that tries to pull me back into whatever is going on. Oh wait, I don’t know about that issue. Oh wait, I haven’t heard that was going on. How are you going to handle that. Here is what I would do….and on and on.
But I recently discovered that there is yet another way you can find yourself dragged backward into the details.
What if you’re so proud of being ‘hands off’, and letting the team ‘handle it’, and then…..things go a bit sideways.
Oh, don’t you just love it. Here you are, staying in your lane, trusting the process, being out of the way and focusing on what you should be focusing on – and the darn thing just goes off the rails! The team has a moment, and just falls down.
“…you have to let them fall down now and again; it’s just that I didn’t realize that sometimes when they fall, they skin YOUR knee
Now of course – mistakes will happen, and it’s not about being perfect it’s about how you correct things. But your secret voice is saying – See! I knew it! If I just told everybody what to do, and how I would do it – things like this wouldn’t happen. See – THIS is why I can’t let go of the details.
But then I told myself – OK, wait a minute. Take a breath. Perhaps grab your favorite adult beverage, and think carefully.
First – you aren’t perfect. There are plenty of times you’ve stepped in it. Missed something, made a mistake. So doing things the way you would do them isn’t a holy grail.
Second – how in the world do you expect people to learn if you don’t let them have experiences. You have to let them go through the situation, feel the pain, so that that particular issue will never happen again. We’ve all been there, done that thing that stays with us FOREVER. Oh no – we definitely won’t be making that mistake again!
It’s all part of the learning process. And I know that – you have to let them fall down now and again; it’s just that I didn’t realize that sometimes when they fall, they skin YOUR knee. They may not be the only one to feel a bit of the pain. If the client isn’t happy, you’re going to feel it too. And if it was significant enough, it might even impact the company or your reputation – and you’ll have to do some clean up.
But either way, large or small – something, sometime, will happen. And you won’t like it. And it will sting.
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But – don’t let that feed your impulse to jump back into the middle of things. And start directing people and processes. Because, it really isn’t your job anymore (actually, probably hasn’t been for a long time). And being a busy-body, managing the details, directing traffic – well, in addition to being a really bad use of your time; it’s a crutch for you.
You see, staying with the details, managing every piece of every project – that’s easy for you. It’s what you know like the back of your hand. You could do it with your eyes closed. It’s a safe space.
And it’s absolutely not where you should be. Looking forward, forming the vision for the company, developing the roadmap to get you there – that’s your job. And while I know – those are very different muscles, and they aren’t nearly as strong as your old muscles – once you commit to using them, they will get stronger. And you’ll get better at it.
So, put a bandage on those knees, check in with the team (to be sure everyone survived), do whatever you need to do with the client – and chalk it all up to a magnificent learning experience. Because that is precisely what it was.
Now – get back to work. YOUR work.
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