Ask Coach: How To Give Up Control Of Tasks In My IT Solutions Provider Business

By Rich Anderson, executive coach with HTG Peer Groups

Q: How do I give up control of things I shouldn’t do anymore?

Coach: It has been said the longest journey a man will ever take is the 18 inches from his head to his heart. I think this adage has some application to your question. 

But first …

Waving Leaves.  I was on a journey that had me driving along miles of corn fields. As I thought about your question, I pictured you engaged in certain tasks, but not tasks where you uniquely provide your highest value. 

I looked at the corn. I saw standing stalks and waving leaves. Leaves blown by the breeze. Motion. Like hands at work. But that “work” was useless — just passive movement resulting from external forces (the wind).  Unseen below were the roots anchoring and sustaining the stalk. Being well rooted, the stalk will ultimately produce the highly valued ear of corn.

Your question is how to let go, how to manage your tasks. Steven Covey once said all effective task management is summed up by the phrase, “organize and execute around priorities.” That leads us back to the head to heart journey.

The Head. A good leader engages in a process of setting clear priorities. These priorities flow out of a vision (where the person wants to go) and strategies (how the person intends to get there). This process happens in the person’s head.  It is a product of the person’s brain, and logic.

The Heart. A problem for some leaders is failing to clearly identify or forgetting their principled center, their deeper purpose, their passionate heart which underlies their vision and strategy. This center, purpose and passion are often stated as core values (what the person values) and a personal purpose/mission statement (why the person exists). These are matters of the heart. These anchor, sustain and energize the person’s priorities, vision and strategies. Without this anchor or foundation, a leader will be like the corn stalks I saw — like waving leaves blown about by the wind. There will be movement caused by external forces but no real results flowing out from a principled center or a deeper purpose. There are no roots. The principled center, the personal purpose statement, the passion of the heart, are the roots from which the valued fruit comes. 

The Deeper Power. You have to have something powerful and clarifying welling up inside your heart to be able to say “no” and let go of the lower value tasks that you ought not to do. That power and clarity comes from your values, principles, purpose, and passion. It comes from your heart — the roots that anchor and sustain you. You must identify and remember (i.e., regularly review/restate) your core values and your deeper purpose for living if you want to consistently engage in high value activities which produce the results you seek.

Role Clarity. You have a role in your company with corresponding tasks. Others on your team have their respective roles with their corresponding tasks. Identify your unique high value contribution. What is your highest and best use? What are your high value activities? Find this clarity, anchor it and empower it with your principles and purpose. 

Build Your Team … then delegate! Let your team act. If you don’t trust them — build their competency so you can trust them. Manage their capacity/bandwidth so they can act. If everyone is delegating effectively and they still have a full plate, perhaps it is time to look at low cost administrative support. This is the not-so-secret sauce to effective execution — delegate to your admin! 

Accountability — Who. The next step is accountability. The best accountability is peer accountability. Have you empowered your team to hold you accountable to live out your proper role? Do you listen to them when they remind you of your highest and best use? Be humble enough to let them help you succeed. 

Accountability — What.  Executing consistently over time takes practice and practice.  Business author Jim Collins references his SMaC recipe. What are your Specific, Methodical and Consistent practices?  Do you use a daily planning tool which helps you remember your principles, purpose and values and helps you accomplish your high value tasks? Are you reviewing it regularly throughout the day?

If you walk that long 18-inch journey from head to heart you will find a clarifying guide which will empower you to engage in your high value tasks. Get real role clarity around your highest value contribution. Rely on your team to do their respective high value tasks. Rely on your team for your own accountability. Regularly review your daily planning tool to guide your daily tasks. Do these things and watch your bumper crop grow. Now let’s go eat the sweet corn!  

In HTG we discuss topics like effective delegation.  To learn more visit HTG Peer Groups.com.

Rich Anderson is an executive coach with HTG Peer Groups where he is most energized by helping people around their priorities. He also presents leadership workshops and seminars including team personality and judgment assessments and training. Prior to his affiliation with HTG, Rich was a private practice attorney where his practice included advising small business owners from startup through succession, estate planning, and conflict resolution.  Rich also served four terms in the Iowa Legislature. You can reach him at randerson@htgpeerpgroups.com.

This article originally appeared at http://htgpeergroups.com/blog/entry/the-longest-journey.html.