A conversation with a leader (client) who recently received a promotion from front line manager to becoming a stressed out “manager of managers” went something like this:

Me: “So, did you go through your long list of “to do’s” and decide what you absolutely must do, what you will say no to, and what you will delegate?”

Leader: “I was able to find some things to cross of the list. However, everything else on the list can only be done by me; I’m the only one who can do them. I tried delegating to some of my managers, but they just couldn’t do things right.”

Me: “What does ‘doing things right’ mean to you?”

Leader: “Well, I guess it means getting the job done in the way that I want it done.”

Me: “Is it possible for your managers to do the work in the way that they want?”

Leader: “Hmm….I’m not sure. I’ve done the work myself in the past, and I know that the way I’ve done it works.”

Me: “What are your concerns about allowing them to do it their way?”

Leader: “I’m worried that if they try to do things differently, they’ll fail; and I’m concerned that their failure might not reflect well on me and our organization.”

Me: “Would it help if we had a conversation about how you might encourage your managers to do it their way and increase the odds of their success?”

Leader: “Yes, I’d like that.”

And so the dialog continued to help this leader find a way to delegate. He was eventually able to trust that his managers could get the work done in the way that worked best for them. He was able to learn to trust them by:

Understanding that experiences and beliefs affect how we take our own unique action. How we’ve been raised, how we’ve lived, and how we interpret things have a profound impact on how we take action. There are an infinite number of ways to do something. The important thing is that the work gets done (on time and within budget, of course).

Accepting that there is no one “right way” to getting something done. My client was smart enough to realize that “unique action” doesn’t necessarily mean “wrong action” – it just means that his managers may take a different path to getting the work done than he would. He learned to be open to their way of getting the work done, and to trust that they would end up with favorable results.

Coaching his managers to help them to find their own path. While his managers may not have been as experienced as he’d like, this leader knew that it would take some concerted effort on his part to get them there. He began by meeting with them weekly to understand their unique experiences, beliefs, interpretations and ways of taking action. He helped them to understand what needed to be done and why. He learned to trust that they would complete the work successfully in their own way.

The net result of this was that my client had a very successful first year on the job. He was able to focus on the vision and direction of his organization rather than how his managers were completing their work. His team was engaged and his organization was successful.

How have you learned to appreciate the unique ways your team members get the work done?

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