In this country, most of us have been thoroughly ingrained with a ‘bootstrap’ mentality: we pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We do it ourselves! Leaders are especially prone to this mentality. And don’t get me wrong; there are some things only you can do, and it’s important that you have enough internal direction, confidence, and strength to do them.

The problem is, most of us AREN’T doing those things because we’re stuck doing all the OTHER things.

As we grow in a role, in leadership, in our personal development, we tend to grow in the responsibilities we take on. And as we take on more responsibilities, there is inevitably more administrative tasks that go with those responsibilities. With our bootstrap mentality, we want to do every step. We want to control every facet. But then 90% of our time is in the details, and only 10% is on the big stuff that our team relies on us for.

Answering the phones for an office is an important job. Someone needs to do it. But does it need to be the creative director of that company?

Probably not. They need to be ideating, leading, building the designs only they can build. Are they really doing that work if most of their time is spent on other tasks?

We often ask: CAN I do this? If the answer is yes, we do it! But we need to be asking a follow up questions: Do I need to spend the energy? No! That’s what delegation is for. So many things can take us off course. So many things can provide obstacles. Trusting you team with delegation is a way to make your course more smooth.

It takes trust, it takes letting go of control, and it takes confidence. Do you have the strength to do it?