Delegating Without Losing Yourself

Happy day, everybody, and welcome back to the Faithful on the Clock podcast, where the whole point is to get your faith and work aligned. I’m your host, Wanda Thibodeaux, and in today’s episode, I’m talking about how to delegate without losing who you are or veering away from your goals in the process. Grab your coffee or tea or whatever you’d like to enjoy as you listen, and let’s lay it all out.

So delegating, the first thing is just that, for most professionals, regardless of level, it’s not an optional thing. I’ve said it a lot of times, but it is logistically impossible for one person to be everywhere. You’re also not going to necessarily have the skills or experience or pieces of information necessary to handle certain jobs, even if you have more time. So even if your tendency is to want to micromanage and keep a death grip on everything, you just can’t. You have to be a team player and acknowledge there’s too much for one person to do, and you have to pull in the right people with the right expertise to get things done and respect what they can contribute. Otherwise, you’re just gonna burn out fast. And so delegating becomes increasingly important the bigger your company gets, and it’s par for the course if you want to take positions at higher levels. And I just really want to stress that you have to see it as a normal part of leadership and of the scaling process for that reason.

So accepting that there’s really no way around delegation, the danger of it is that, the more you do it, the more distanced you can feel from the work being done. And that’s not a good thing, because it’s really that sense of connection and purpose in the work that keeps you motivated. Delegating also has a second danger where, as things go down the pipeline, the more your message gets reinterpreted and translated in the voice of other people. So there’s this potential loss or diluting of authenticity that can happen, too. Either way, it’s going to influence how you and other people see the work and what your final output is.

And the first thing, the first sort of recommendation I have is, make sure you have an amazing core team around you. You know, don’t just give jobs to anybody and their brother. Pick people who you absolutely know you can trust to get the job done. And the key here is, the trust does not come just from how qualified those people are. That’s what I see people do a lot, everybody tries to pick whoever they think is the absolute best in the field or market, they kind of let the resume talk thinking that, if they just have the “quote unquote” --best--they’ll have a competitive edge. No. These have to be people who really know you as a person, as a human being, because it’s that personal relationship that’s going to let them pass your message along in a way that’s authentic to you. Those are the people who are going to sense what you would or wouldn’t do and who can really act as a good proxy for you.

And what this means is, if you want to delegate well, you have to put some real time into building those relationships. You have to share your thoughts consistently, get feedback, all those kinds of things, and this includes allowing your core team to see you outside of the office. Because they really need to be able to see your big picture if they’re going to follow and mimic how you think and what you do.

By far the best example you have of this is Jesus and the disciples. We touched on this a little bit in the last episode on networking, but Jesus did a lot of preaching Himself, but you know, He knew He wasn’t going to be in the world long, and so He picked just a few people to delegate building the church and spreading the gospel to. He traveled with them, they had meals together, it was this really intimate thing. But that intimacy allowed the disciples to know Jesus better than anyone else and to better understand what Jesus was trying to teach. Did they get everything right? No, they still fumbled around and had some epiphanies later, they weren’t perfect. But they knew Jesus as a teacher and a friend, and so they were able to commit and stay emotionally invested in what they had been called to do.

The second recommendation for delegating is, communicate your message clearly and communicate it often. The more you do that, the more real, the more urgent and essential it’s gonna be in your own mind. It gets easier to feel real certainty about what you’re doing. And even when you’ve got people in your core circle, the more people hear your thoughts and directions, the more it’s going to get ingrained in them, too. It’s going to be easier for them to remember and act on. And the more you say what you want, you know, the more channels you use to get that out, the less risk there is of somebody being able to come back later and say, “Oh, but you said this or that” and, you know, turning into this big, huge conflict. You’re going to have more people who understand what the objectives are, which then means you’ve got more people on the team who can take ownership and hold everybody accountable for doing their part.

Now, within this, you want to set yourself up so that you can check in with your core circle on a regular basis. That could be just a quick email each week, you could do a one-on-one every month, however you want to set it up. But what this allows you to do is to keep the work they’re doing on the front burner in your mind. You’re going to stay more present in terms of what’s going on with the projects and not get so disconnected from what they’re achieving on your behalf, so you can celebrate as you go. It’s also a great, kind of, built-in chance for you to provide some redirection if that happens to be necessary. So it ensures your core circle doesn’t get off course, and then, by extension, that keeps the entire organization on the path you want that really reflects you and your brand.

The third and final recommendation I have is, take some time through the whole delegation process to reflect. You know, when you first start, you need to really think about what your values are and how the job connects to them, because there’s just no way that anybody else is going to adhere or communicate those values and goals well if you don’t really show them you’re really committed. People will buy in when you’re personally enthusiastic, so be able to articulate in a positive way why the work is necessary and how it’s going to change things. Once you’ve got some things in motion, look at what’s happening. If things aren’t turning out the way you want, for example, then maybe that’s a clue that you need to tweak the way you’re presenting the job. Think about whether the way you handled things could be improved, even if people are doing exactly what you asked. And all the time, you know, your values shouldn’t fluctuate too much, but I think it’s very common, as you learn and get experience, to say to yourself, “The priority I had then isn’t what I want to prioritize now”. So you have to have good situational awareness and know when to move forward or back, and you have to be courageous enough to pivot and tell people to do something different. Giving a thorough rationale for those shifts you decide to make is so important, too, because if you just say “Welp, I changed my mind”, then people just see you as inconsistent. They don’t see it as you having learned something or that you’re making a conscious choice based on new education.

So those are the three main things for effective, authentic delegation. Invest in relationships to build a core circle you really can trust on a personal level, communicate what you want clearly and often, and then take time to reflect about your beliefs, priorities, and room for improvement.

One last little but critical thought I want to leave you with is, delegating doesn’t mean a job is unimportant. Let me say that again. Delegating doesn’t mean a job is unimportant. I think at least in the United States, there’s this tendency to think, “Oh, delegating means I can get rid of the fluff jobs and do more of what I really want.” But I mean, think about Jesus. His job was literally to save the world. And I don’t think God gave that to Him lightly. So when you give someone a job, take the time to make sure they understand that you’re handing the job off because you genuinely believe they can handle it, not because the job is below you. Delegating is always a demonstration of trust, and the way you thank people for taking on that responsibility can show them the value they have to you. Do not miss that opportunity. Always reward people and express gratitude in a genuine way.

And with that, let’s just take a breath. Go ahead, you can bow your head, close your eyes or whatever you’d like, and let’s pray.

Father in Heaven, from day one in the garden, from the moment Adam was on the Earth, you entrusted people to do jobs on your behalf. And you trusted Jesus with the biggest job ever. Give us the courage to do the same thing so we can achieve more good for You--You know we’re far stronger together than alone. Help us get away from the temptation to try to do it all or micromanage. And give us clarity on who we are and who You are so we take on and assign the right priorities, every single day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

All right everybody. I know you’ve got lots to go out and do, but remember, other people can help you if you let them. For the upcoming show, oh, this is gonna be another good one, I’m going to show you how to pare down your priorities when everything seems like it matters. Remember to subscribe to the show or sign up for email updates at faithfulontheclock.captivate.fm, and you can become a supporting member at patreon.com/faithfulontheclock, too. Go do that right now, and until next week, be blessed.