Tangled up in Weeds?
If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve eagerly embraced leadership positions throughout your life. It’s a great way to grow and learn to overcome new challenges. Once you’re there, though, it can be hard to let go of the day-to-day stuff. How do you learn to step back and let others work their magic?
When to Lead by Letting Go
As your career has progressed, you’ve developed many skills that you enjoy using, especially in a small business. Wearing lots of hats can be fun, but you can’t possibly do it all yourself. Fortunately, you’ve got people working for you who are more than capable. How can you keep yourself from being in the weeds too much?
How to Step Back
First, you shouldn’t take it personally when you need to hand off day-to-day tasks. It’s not like you’ve lost those skills carefully honed through years of experience like closing sales. In fact, you’re learning new skills at this stage of your career -- namely, delegation and trust, which are important hallmarks of successful leaders.
Your team undoubtedly has individual duties like creative work, finance, IT, etc. You hired them specifically for their expertise, so you should leave them alone in most everyday situations once you’ve got them up to speed. This frees you up for more strategic work, directing the company's vision.
So the key here is to flip your mindset: instead of figuring out what you’re trying to get away from, like operational details, figure out what you’re trying to work for, whether it’s new marketing strategies or expanding your offerings. Then, block off time every day or week to focus on that. Chances are, that’s what you prefer to be doing anyway.
To change your mindset without feeling anxiety, consciously reevaluate your definition of productivity. You are no longer unproductive if the keyboard isn’t clacking every minute or your phone isn’t used nonstop. You’re investing time in activities like strategic planning that will pay off in the long term so that you can move away from daily or hourly goals.
Finding the Right Level of Involvement
All that being said, times are tough for many companies right now. Maybe you’ve lost some people and occasionally have to wear one of those hats simply because there’s nobody else. It’s tempting to get more involved “to make sure things are done right.” But you need to be careful, because while you could replicate some of what your team members can do, they can’t replace what you can do, which is to lead the company and ensure success.
If there are times you have to get into the weeds, carefully plan that time, get done what you need, then step back into your leadership role. Too much time at the ground level makes your people nervous, like you don’t think you can trust them to get the job done.
Bonus: What to Do If Your Manager Gets Too into the Weeds
So far, we’ve been tackling this from the manager’s perspective, but what if you’re an individual contributor and your boss is hovering over your shoulder? In this case, you can help the manager understand how your work contributes to the overall business goals, especially if it translates to revenue. Give them status updates so they know things are getting done, and never stop championing your successes. The more they see you succeed, the more confidence they have that they are in good hands. If your relationship is friendly, gently remind them they have more important things to worry about.
If, as a leader, you really can’t resist the urge to be in the trenches now and then, make it a (limited) part of your schedule. Occasionally sit down with people doing different job functions and let them walk you through the latest developments in their area. You’ll better understand what is happening without feeling like you must constantly step in.
The bottom line is, turn your people loose and let them impress you!