TheLeadershipNotebook

Your First 90 Days....

 

“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”

~John Wooden

 

In last week’s post, I shared the news that I’ve accepted the position of President of Toledo St. Ursula Academy and Junior Academy. My start date is October 1st. I’m excited to jump right into my new role and hit the ground running.

But as a leadership development coach who has worked with many leaders during their transition into new roles, I have to remind myself to practice what I preach. What do I mean?

According to research and best practices on leadership effectiveness, the first days in a new position are critical because small differences in a new leader’s actions can have a huge impact on long-term results.

Whether you’re a hire from the outside, as I am, or an existing employee who has been at an organization for a while, it’s important that the new leader take the time up front to quickly diagnose a your situation, understand its challenges and opportunities, establish priorities and manage the key relationships that will help you succeed.

 

So my real start date was the minute I accepted my new position.

 

There are two resources I have utilized with my coaching clients who are entering new roles. The first, Michael Watkins’ The First 90 Days, provides an excellent roadmap for a new leader. The second, The New Leader’s 100 Day Action Plan by Brandt et. al. offers a similar blueprint that includes practical tools to help you implement your plan.

 

Here’s a very brief summary of the concepts that Watkins shares in The First 90 Days. He outlines 10 key transition challenges that will help you navigate your road ahead. They are:

 

 

1. Promote Yourself — get yourself mentally ready to step into your new role. Shift your mindset and perspective and embrace your new position.
2. Accelerate Your Learning — figure out what you need to learn and identify up front your best available sources of insight and information and learn what you need to learn in the shortest amount of time.
3. Match Strategy to Situation—not every situation is the same. This transition challenge requires you to assess just what you are facing. The book outlines four different business situations that will allow you to match the appropriate focus and response to needs of the organization.
4. Secure Early Wins—in this step, the new leader tailors early initiatives to build personal credibility, establish key relationships, and identify and harvest low-hanging fruit-the highest –potential opportunities for short term improvements in organizational performance.
5. Negotiate Success—proactively work to understand with your new boss just what success looks like. You will have greater clarity and a sense of focus for your efforts.
6. Achieve Alignment—this step requires a focus on analyzing the architecture of your organization. Assess alignment among strategy, structure, systems and skills. You will likely not be able to do this immediately but it should be included in your 90 Day plan.
7. Build Your Team—begin by assessing your team, looking for congruence with strengths and needs of the organization. Then work to build team trust and cohesion. You will also need to put in place goals, incentives and performance measures that will propel your team in the desired direction.
8. Create Coalitions—consolidate existing sources of support while developing relationships with those whose resources or connections you need to succeed.
9. Keep Your Balance-- build your support systems and keep your personal disciplines. Starting new is challenging and stressful. It’s important to remember to keep this important balance.
10. Expedite Everyone —if there are other new leaders in your organization, share these steps with them. Share your plan as well.

 

Regardless of the tools or resources you use, if you are anticipating a promotion or a move to a new assignment, planning your first three months in your role is a must. I’ve completed a first draft of my 90 Day Plan and have already accomplished some of my action steps.

 

What do you think? What has worked for you when you transition into a new position? I’d love to hear about strategies you have used in your first days and months in your new job.

 

To your success,

 

Mary

Stuffing It

 

“Anybody can become angry-that is easy,

but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree

and at the right time and for the right purpose and in the right way-

that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.”

~Aristotle

 

 

I write and speak often about the concepts of emotional intelligence and the impact your EQ skill level can have on your career (and your personal life.) Specifically, I’ve discussed an EQ topic that is affectionately called an amygdala highjack: that point when your lizard brain takes over and your emotions cause you to say or do something that can lead to regret, embarrassment and outcomes that are often worse.

 

But there’s an opposite side of that coin: stuffing your emotions. Refusing to be assertive or even express what you’re feeling can be just as career-limiting as “popping off.”  That’s what’s happening to my client, Dan (not his real name).

Dan’s EQ 2.0 self-assessment reflected low scores in emotional expression and assertiveness and a high score in impulse control. Not an emotionally intelligent combination.

 

During our results review session, Dan shared his boss’s negative 360 feedback, which pretty much confirmed Dan’s self assessment. And according to his boss, Dan’s lack of emotional expression and assertiveness is severely limiting his career progression.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand the mental and physiological cost of stuffing your emotions. But there are additional costs as well. Here are a few more:

To relationships and trust: Relationships and trust are both built on two-way communication and sharing.

To perceptions: Sometimes this behavior can be seen as predictable or calculated, often sending the wrong message.

To respect and influence: It’s difficult to have influence and garner respect when those you lead don’t know where you stand.

 

What Dan (or You) Can Do

1. Become more aware of the types of emotions he has trouble expressing at work and understand what triggers them.

2. Look for a role model who he feels successfully expresses their emotions. He should seek their advice and perspective on what works for them.

 3. Tap into his skills in empathy and emotional self awareness to pay more attention to how others react when he does express his emotions.  

4. Understand what situations cause him to be less assertive than he should be. What situations make him cave?  

5. Sometimes when we don’t speak up, it’s because we are mired in thought when others want action. Think about that in advance of making a decision. What information or evidence will you need in order to feel comfortable acting.

 

Aristotle was right. It is difficult to express your emotions to the right degree at the right time for the right purpose in the right way. We know that an emotional explosion is not the right approach but neither is stuffing them.

Emotional intelligence skills CAN be learned. In fact, ultimately, your career success counts on it. Just ask Dan.

To your success,

 

Mary

5 Secrets of Olympic Coaches

 

“Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen.

The coaches who win are the ones who can motivate their players.”

~Vince Lombardi

 

For us mere mortals, the 2012 Olympics has certainly been a display of amazing performances. From the “kids” in gymnastics to the swimming and diving feats of the US team, we’ve witnessed outstanding athletes and outstanding teams. But we can’t forget the coaches, some more public than others, providing non-stop encouragement and focus to their athlete.

While I don’t work with Olympic athletes, I do coach leaders who want to take their performance to the next level. And those leaders often must learn to make the transition to become internal coaches themselves, focused on developing their team members and direct reports to achieve outstanding results.

So I read with interest a recent HBR blog post by Marcie Schorr Hirsch and Therese S. Kinal, discussing the results of a study outlining what it takes for coaches to produce Olympic champions.

It’s interesting that the five critical areas cited in the study of Olympic coaches are not dissimilar to what we coaches (both internal and external) must provide to our “coachees.”

The five areas are below with my take on how they might apply to your world.

1.      Help the athlete cultivate self-awareness

You can help your direct reports develop self-awareness by helping them understand their strengths and areas requiring development. How might you build on their strengths to leverage great results? Do you know what really matters to your direct report? How they are best motivated. How are they able to learn and grow in areas that provide meaning and value to them AND to the organization?

2.      Build a strong coach-athlete relationship

Trust, commitment and a sense of partnership are integral to building a solid relationship with your coachee. This requires truly listening to them, without judgment. You must instill in them the confidence and trust that you believe in them and what they are capable of achieving.

 

3.      Create an optimal training environment

A great coach/manager must create an environment that provides the right amount of visibility and sponsorship that can propel a career. Throughout the Olympics, we heard athletes continually share how their coach challenged the athletes to achieve stretch goals. What kind of environment are you creating for your coachees?

 

4.      Provide financial and other support systems

Development of new skills requires an investment of both time and resources. A coach encourages and motivates her coachee to devote the time and effort it takes to practice these skills. A coach also holds her coachee accountable for their following through on responsibilities and stated committments.

 

5.      Manage the Olympic environment

Coach/mangers must challenge their “athlete” to see the bigger picture as they learn new skills. Politics are part of every organization and great coaches help their coachees gain a broader perspective that expands beyond their immediate sphere of influence.

 

I just finished watching the US Women’s Soccer team win the Olympic gold medal against Japan. It was an excellent game and team USA’s performance was outstanding. Coach Pia Sundhage did not receive a gold medal for the victory but knew that her focus was not on achieving fame and glory but on her team’s results. In fact, Sundhage’s quote about coaching Team USA mirrors my feelings about coaching my clients: “I’ve been lucky to coach them….it is unique. It’s wonderful.”

What do you think? How do you coach your employees to deliver outstanding performance? I welcome your perspective and input.

 

To your success,

 

Mary

Your First and Simplest Emotion

 

“The first and simplest emotion that we discover in the human mind is curiosity.”

~Edmund Burke

 

Remember when you were 6 and you drove your Mom crazy asking questions that began with words like: Why? Who? When? Where? How? and my personal favorite, What? Endless curiosity ruled your world. Until, as one of my coaching clients lamented, your parents or teacher or babysitter cried out in exasperation: No More Questions!

 

Curiosity inadvertently squashed.

 

Another lesson some are taught as kids is that it’s rude to ask questions or worse, that asking questions somehow conveys your ignorance. Curious George always got into trouble for being curious. And we might even have been warned that “Curiosity killed the cat!”

 

For many, curiosity got a bad rap.

 

The truth is that curiosity is one of the most vital and life-affirming qualities you can bring to your work life AND your personal life.

 

Curiosity at Work

It is so easy to blame others (or ourselves) when things go wrong. Consider being curious about your experiences rather than critical. For example, instead of beating yourself up, or blaming someone else, for not reaching your performance goals—again—try asking yourself what is going on for you that keeps your performance below your expectations?

 

You can ask questions like:

• What could have done differently?
• What can I learn from this performance?
• What will be my next step?

 

With an attitude of genuine curiosity in coming to understand the current reality, you are more likely to help yourself find new and more creative solutions to achieving your goals or helping others achieve their goals.

Cultivating a curious mind also improves your ability to think more strategically. Asking questions like:

• What’s possible for my department to achieve in the coming year?
• Where is the next wave of opportunity in my client base?
• What if I looked at our challenges from a different perspective?

 

Questions like these coming from a curious mind, shift your perspective from the here and now to points in the future and help you begin the process of building your strategic roadmap.

 

Curiosity in Life

Helen Keller said, “Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all!” When you foster an attitude of curiosity, doors open and adventures begin; questions lead to new possibilities. For example, asking yourself “What do I want to learn now and where might that lead me?” can set you on a journey of exciting exploration that moves you forward.

If, instead, you come from the place of “I already know what I need to know,” you shut off the possibility of discovering something new that could rock your world.

 

So shake off those old, outdated beliefs you have about being curious. Walt Disney, friend of 6 year olds everywhere, said: “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

 

If you truly want to expand your excitement, joy and fulfillment in your work and your personal life, keep those Why? Who? When? Where? How? and What? questions coming.

 

What do you think? How has being curious benefitted you in your career or in your personal life?  What have you learned about being curious?

 

To your success,

 

Mary

 

5 Effective Strategies to Cure Defensive Communication

 

My coaching client, Barbara (not her real name), has an excuse for everything. Nothing is ever her fault and her colleagues say she is a master of escape, leaving the scene when the conversation gets intense.

Her defensive communication style has been tolerated in the past but now her behavior is holding her back from moving to partnership in her firm. Barbara’s defensiveness has impacted her relationships in the office and has also spilled over to relationships with her clients.

Do you know someone like Barbara? Could YOU be Barbara?

Barbara believes that her defensive communication style protects her. That to be open to feedback, ideas or criticism is to be vulnerable and weak. On the contrary, it is being defensive that weakens us. While you’re busy defending yourself, there’s not much room for meaningful contact with others. Nor can you learn from their feedback or from your own mistakes.

To curb your own defensive reactions, consider some of the following more effective strategies: 

1.   Breathe and Listen• If you feel criticized, rather than reacting or retreating, take a deep breath, tell yourself that it’s only feedback and just listen. You can correct the record later, if necessary.
2. Consider and Accept• Consider if there is a kernel of truth in the feedback.  If there is, acknowledge it and work to improve in that area. Your willingness to acknowledge when you’re wrong inspires colleagues, clients and management to feel confident in you.
3. Consider and Reflect• Realize that sometimes people’s criticisms are all about the “story” they have made up around a situation. Try not to take it personally or as your responsibility.
4. Focus on the message and not the sender • What can you learn from the feedback? If it’s delivered by someone whose personality does not mix with yours, separate the idea from the personality and focus instead on the rest of the message.
5. Ask clarifying questions • Clarifying questions help to keep the listening process active and increase understanding among listeners and speakers. Try some of these questions for gaining time and clarity:

• Can you help me to understand your perspective on this issue?
•  Can you be more specific?Can you give me some examples?
•  Let me tell you what I understand you to be saying. Did I understand you correctly? 
• Say more.  
• Tell me more about that.

 

Changing how we communicate as individuals—learning that we can protect ourselves and have greater influence without using defensiveness—can not only dramatically shift our professional and personal relationships, but can also improve our leadership effectiveness.

“Communication works for those who work at it.”

~John Powell

 

What about you? What strategies have you used to improve your defensive behaviors?

 

To your success,

 

Mary

 

 

 

 

 

Solving Problems: Trusted Advisor Style

 

“It is very important to understand that emotional intelligence

is not the opposite of intelligence,

it is not the triumph of heart over head,

it is the unique intersection of both.”

~David Caruso

 

My last three blog posts discussed your desired movement from technician to becoming a trusted advisor for your clients and the EQ skills you must possess to make that move. The three EQ facets I’ve shared so far are:

1. Pursuit of Meaning: Your goal, desire and motivation is to become a trusted advisor
2. Emotional Self Awareness: Your awareness of your emotions and how they impact your behavior and others
3. Interpersonal Relationships: Your ability to develop mutually satisfying relationships

 

But even if you possess each of these emotional intelligence skills, in order to become a true trusted advisor you must still solve your client’s most challenging problems. And at the leader level, you must regularly solve their problems when the pressure is on, when the stakes are high and all focus is squarely on you. All while keeping your emotions in check.

In the realm of EQ, what does this problem solving skill entail? Problem solving in an EQ sense is not about the quality of your solutions, but rather at how effectively you use your emotions in the process of solving a problem. It’s your ability to gather information and make decisions without being emotionally distracted, stuck or overwhelmed in the process.

 

You can possess all the technical knowledge in the world but if your emotions cause you to be frozen in your decision making, unable to consider various perspectives or  avoid dealing with the problem all together, your technical expertise is of little use to your client.

 

It’s fitting that I’m writing this blog post on the day that one of my former business partners (and trusted advisor extraordinaire) retires from Plante & Moran. My dear friend, Brent Cousino, is one of the most amazing trusted advisors I’ve ever worked with.

 

Brent had many client facing roles at P&M and, regardless of his position, his clients could always count on Brent to solve their most challenging problems calmly and effectively. Pressure, deadlines, budgets and client expectations were a constant in Brent’s consulting role and he managed these challenges brilliantly. His clients knew that he would utilize his technical expertise combined with exceptional problem solving skills to make a difference for them. Especially when the stakes were high.

 

Oh, and he also possesses the first three EQ skills in droves! Brent will certainly take his trusted advisor skills on the next leg of his leadership journey.

 

How would evaluate your problem solving skills when emotions are in play? Can you be relied on to be there for your clients, cool headed, focused and determined?

 

Becoming a trusted advisor truly demands these superior problem solving skills.

 

To your success,

 

Mary

 

From Technician to Trusted Advisor: 5 EQ Skills That Make a Difference

”Giving advice is not an exclusively logical process,

but rather an emotional duet played between the advisor and client.

If you cannot learn to recognize, process and respond to a client’s emotions,

you cannot be an effective advisor.”

~David Maister

 

A couple weeks ago, I had coffee with Rob Nance of IShade. One of the top issues we discussed was the critical importance for CPAs (and other professionals like lawyers and engineers) to shift into a role of “trusted advisor” to their clients moving from a transactional problem solver or one-dimensional technician.

How can the shy or reticent professional, who is confident in the numbers they’ve crunched or statutes they site, move beyond the role of technician and into a role of a true advisor? Or how can the extravert stop talking long enough to listen to their clients in order to learn their most pressing issues?  

It turns out that developing professionals along 5 specific emotional intelligence (EQ) realms can make the difference between being seen as “just a bean counter” OR “a valued member of the client’s team.”

 

David Maister in his book, The Trusted Advisor, describes several distinct attributes.

Trusted Advisors focus on:

• the client, rather than on themselves
• the client as a whole individual, rather than a person fulfilling a role
• problem definition and resolution rather than technical or content mastery
• new ways to be of great service to the client
• doing the right thing rather versus achieving their own rewards
• quality client relationships

 

Over the next several blog posts I’ll share each of the five key EQ realms along with strategies for building your skills in these areas. We'll talk about the first, self-actualizaton, today.

 

Trusted Advisor EQ Skill #1—Pursuit of Meaning

All the skill building in the world won’t matter if you don’t find meaning or purpose or desire in becoming a trusted advisor to your clients. So ask yourself: What motivates me? Is becoming a trusted advisor a focus for me as I plan for my future? How committed am I to continuous improvement and building the skill sets that becoming a trusted advisor requires?

The process of becoming a trusted advisor is a journey not a destination. It’s a process of continuously honing your skills and abilities to become an outstanding resource for your clients. It often requires moving outside your comfort zone and stretching beyond your current capabilities.

If your answers to the above questions indicate that you are ready and willing to transition into this more advanced role, now take stock of your strengths and weaknesses. Ask yourself: What are my best gifts and talents that I can leverage as I make the transition? What do I enjoy currently in my role in serving clients? How can I take the skills I use successfully in my personal life and apply them in my professional world?

Becoming “self-actualized” may sound high minded or philosophical but it’s actually quite practical. When you are interested in persistently trying to improve yourself and engage in meaningful goals and objectives, great things can happen. Success, happiness and life satisfaction involve doing what you enjoy and finding ways to apply your talents and strengths.

Your assignment for the next week is to take stock of your strengths. What do you love to do in your job? What do you excel at? What gives meaning to the work you do? What are you motivated to achieve in your role? How about your areas for development? What are those? How motivated are you to shore those up?

Your journey to trusted advisor begins here.

To your success,

Mary

 

 

Is Your Gas Tank on Empty?

 

“We grow the aspects of our lives that we feed-with energy and engagement-and choke off those we deprive of fuel. Your life is what you agree to attend to.”

 

~Jim Loehr

 

 

Mark,* a high level CPA with a Fortune 100 Company, bounded into our coaching meeting, out of breath and clearly wired. As he caught his breath and calmed down, I asked him what was up. This was the second meeting in a row where he showed up at wits end, clearly having difficulty staying focused and managing the pace of his role. He was in overload.

 

And to catch up and save time, Mark did what he thought was the obvious: He skipped his lunch, ate candy bars in the afternoon for bursts of energy and rarely got any exercise. Making matters worse, he averaged about 4 hours a night of sleep.

 

But Mark was misguided. Rather than saving time, these behaviors were actually undermining his overall effectiveness.

 

Can you relate to Mark? Are you just about out of gas? You’re not alone.

 

When the seemingly relentless demands at work and burdens of a busy life take their toll on work performance, we tend to think that managing our time better will improve the situation. If we can just work faster, multitask more efficiently, things will be better, we think, as we skip another meal or pass up on that extra hour of sleep.

 

However, as Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, authors of The Power of Full Engagement, explain, it is the skillful management of energy, not time, that most significantly affects high performance. Too often, we squander this valuable resource through energy-taxing habits.

 

Take a look at this list of physical, emotional or mental habits and assess how you are managing your energy:

1. I rely on sugary or carbohydrate-rich snacks for bursts of energy when I need an energetic pick-me-up

2. I believe that life is an endless marathon to be endured; you just have to keep on running. 

3. I tend to do what feels immediately pressing and easier to accomplish rather than make intentional choices about how I spend my time and what matters most. 

4. I hate routines; they’re too much like being stuck in a rut. I prefer to be loose and spontaneous.

5. I’m so busy I rarely have time to reflect on what I value most deeply.

6. I seem to be stuck in overdrive; I feel like I’ve lost the ability to shift to any other gear.

7. I work out (cardiovascular and weight training) irregularly, if at all.
 

8. I regularly get less than six hours of sleep.
 

9. I rarely take breaks; that way, I can get more done.

10. When I take the time to notice, my breathing seems shallow; I seem to go a long time without taking a deep breath.

11. Anxiety, frustration and overwhelm seem ever-present for me.
 

12. When I’m under pressure, I easily become harsh or defensive with others.

13. Personal relationships are not something I devote a lot of energy to. If they don’t work, I move on.

14. I smoke and/or drink; to be honest, doing so really helps lower my anxiety level. 

15. I believe that downtime is wasted time. 

 

Hint: If you answered “true” to more than just a few of these statements, you’re probably not performing—or feeling—as well as you could be. Taking more effective charge of your energy can keep you moving strong with a full tank of gas. You’ve got too much to do to ignore the facts surrounding high performance.

 

Is it time to fill up your gas tank? What practices and behaviors have you found that give you the energy to work and live at your very best?

 

To your success,

 

Mary

Your Performance “Re-View”

 

“Appreciative Inquiry is more than a focus on the positive.

It is the creation of conditions that tap the generative potential of people and organizations.”

~Gervase Bushe

 

CPAs across the country have put the finishing touches on their “busy season” and there is a collective sigh of relief. But you’re not really done yet. Now, is a great time, while the memories are still fresh, to reflect and “re-view” your performance over the last six months.

What went well? What should I do more of? Less of? How can I use the best parts of my performance to learn and take my performance to the next level?

Taking this “appreciative approach” helps you manage your change and development through the identification of what works and analysis of how to do MORE of that.

This is an alternative to the typical view of “what did I do wrong?” or “what are my weaknesses?” We identify a problem, analyze the cause and generate solutions all through the lens of fixing or avoiding problems. That approach works in some cases but it encourages us to focus on the negative rather than the energy and sense of possibility that comes from envisioning what’s possible.

To illustrate an appreciative approach to “re-viewing” your performance, think about your responses to the following questions suggested in the Appreciative Inquiry mindset:

1.  Considering all of your objectives for your role, what are you proud of?  What have you accomplished and what are you doing that works?

Give yourself credit for every little thing you do that brings you a feeling or demonstration of success, to even the smallest degree, in any work situation.  Be specific.   

2.  What contributed to those successes? What caused those things to work? What or who has allowed you to do your best work? (Consider your team leader, team, firm overall, clients, circumstances, physical situation, and opportunities.)

3. How have you changed?  Think about yourself at the beginning of the year and the person you are today. How have you changed? Again, give yourself credit for every little improvement in your professional competencies or personal effectiveness. What did you do that helped you improve? The activities may have occurred at work, home or in the community.

4. Going beyond your given objectives...  In your work at your firm and as a member of a greater community, what achievements, accomplishments, or activities are you proud of?

5. Becoming even more effective….   To make yourself even more effective in the future, what do you want to continue to do, do more of, do better, or do differently? Of all the items listed and described above, which are the ones you are inspired to act on. (This is where your team leader can help prioritize your objectives.)

6.  What support within the firm do you have to do the things you identified in #5? (Money, time, training, access to subject matter experts and support staff, equipment, materials, etc.)  What resources do you have outside the company?  This is where your team leader can help in making sure you have what you need to succeed.)

Appreciative Inquiry as a model for change has been around awhile and its applications to individuals, teams and organizations are far and wide. It is a different approach to viewing your situation today that helps shape your vision for tomorrow.

What do you think? Have you used this approach in your firm’s change initiatives? I welcome your comments and input. I’d love to hear from you.

To your success,

Mary

 

5 Tips for Effective Delegation

 

“The great leaders are like the best conductors-

they reach beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players.”

~Blaine Lee

 

Imagine you’re playing Leadership Jeopardy with Delegation as one of the categories.

 

“I’ll take Delegation for $500, Bob.” The answers could be any one of the following:

1.  “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”
2. “My team members are all too busy to take on more work.”
3. “I’m too busy to teach them the right way.”

 

The Question: What is: “Why I don’t delegate?”

 

I’ve heard these same worn out answers from my harried coaching clients. They’d rather work 25 hours a day than delegate to their eager and capable staff.

As leaders, we have two major priorities. Our first is to think strategically, crafting a plan and approach to solve our toughest problems. A second priority is to develop our teams to help us solve those problems.

But you don’t have time to do the first unless you’re committed to the second.

 

Leveraging leadership is all about giving yourself the opportunity to do what you do best, and making sure your teams can do the same. And you can’t do either without effective delegation.

So if we know we must delegate effectively to succeed, how can we move beyond thinking like the answers detailed above.

Here are 5 tips that you can use to begin to develop your leadership leverage:

 

1. Accept the fact that effective delegation is a leadership imperative and decide to improve your delegation skills immediately.  I’ve reviewed numerous position descriptions and competency models and completed scores of 360 interviews and assessments. In every case, effective delegation is a skill requirement for leaders at all levels. Don’t resist building this necessary skill.

2. Effective delegation involves understanding the competencies of your team.  Match the skills and abilities of the individual to the tasks to be delegated. Be patient. Know that they will not complete the task exactly like you would but that is the key part of their learning and development. Understand their focus for development. What is it that they want to learn to be more fulfilled? What do they need to learn to advance? Know how the delegated task fits their developmental needs.

 

3. Invest the time up front to make sure you teach them what they need to know to get them on their way.

 

• Clearly articulate your desired outcome. 
• Clearly articulate the time expected for completion.
• Clearly articulate the deadline for project or task completion.

 

Giving blanket orders to “do what it takes” or “get it back to me sometime next week” only sets both parties up for frustration and potential failure. Time spent up front provides greater returns on your investment once the project is complete. And that’s the definition of leverage.

 

4. Don’t get caught in “upward delegation,” which occurs when your staff attempts to give the project back due to time constraints or lack of understanding. Encourage your staff to focus on solving the problem and taking responsibility to complete the work. This is their time to learn and your time to lead.

5. Thoroughly review the completed work and provide feedback, positive if it meets your needs or constructive if the results are less than you expect. This is not the time to just “let it go” and rework it yourself.

 

Effective delegation provides a win-win solution for you and your team members. As the leader, you have developed and empowered your team to be more comfortable in taking on additional responsibility. This frees up available time for you to think strategically and work on more complex challenges.

So, what holds you back from more effective delegation habits? How can you break through to realize this is a win-win for both you as the leader and your team members who must develop in order to move forward?

To your success,

 

Mary