Most of the leaders that I coach have an enormous workload.  For some 60, 70 even 80 hour work weeks are the norm.  And they are TIRED.  Some hesitate to take a vacation for fear of the mountain of work that will await them when they return.  Others take their laptop with them to the dismay of their family (is that really a vacation?).  So many leaders are finding that they can’t do it all . . .

And they are right.  You CAN’T do it all.  You are not meant to do it all.  I love a quote from hotel magnate William Marriott: “Good managers delegate.  Don’t do anything someone else can do for you.”  Did you get that?  Read it again.  “Don’t do anything someone else can do for you.” So next time you are ready to jump into that task, or make that phone call, or pull together that report, ask yourself “Who else could do this?” Then get that someone else involved!  As a leader, you are not being paid to be an administrator. 

I found this insightful quote from Susan Ward on About.com: “The purpose of delegation isn't just to have someone else do something; it's to free you to focus on using your talents and skills most productively. The big advantage, of course, is that if you delegate enough of the right things, you can be incredibly more productive.”  How would you rate your current productivity??

I can hear some of you now.

• “But I don’t have time to get someone up to speed.” With that mindset you’ll still be doing all of those tasks one year from now, suffocating in a sea of lesser-value tasks and administration. You have to take the time now to train and coach others in order to make time for yourself in the future.
• “But I can do it better myself.”  Your perfectionism or need for control will be the end of you.  You’ll suffocate too.
• “But no one else can do this.” Really? No one? Consider this: “If you are irreplaceable you are not promotable.”  Sounds like it’s time to start training someone!

Perhaps you can’t delegate the entire task, but you may be able to delegate portions of it.  That’s okay! For example, you may not be able to delegate the year end performance review, but you could ask each direct report to draft a self- evaluation.  That gives you a draft to refine.  Always, think in terms of what portions of the task can be delegated. 

Realize that you cannot do it all.  Challenge yourself this week.  Ask yourself, “What am I doing that someone else on my team could do?”  Then start delegating!