Daily Leadership Thought #166 – Leveraging Others Makes A Big Difference

If you’re not leveraging others as a leader, your job is harder than it needs to be.

I was meeting with a colleague the other day, and he seemed utterly exhausted. He believed there was an overwhelming amount of work and insufficient time to complete it. Most of us are our own worst enemies when it comes to time management and setting work priorities. Everything is urgent or is on the verge of becoming so. The old maxim, “If you want a job done right, do it yourself,” haunts us. While organizations and individuals can certainly benefit from planning their work more effectively, this article is about the equally critical issue of leveraging people more effectively.

I encourage you to think differently and fully embrace the concept of leverage. Leverage doesn’t just involve financial resources but also other assets, such as your staff or colleagues. Take a step back before jumping into another work assignment and ask the question, ” …given all my other work responsibilities, who is the best person to do this?” Assuming you are already booked, there are only two answers. If the answer is you, then something else needs to be delegated or reprioritized. However, if the answer is someone else, then employ their help and let them do it. One person can only ever do so much.

Even in this economic climate, I rarely enter work environments where everyone is working too hard. Work distribution still follows a bell curve pattern, where a minority of people do most of the work. These days, the CEO or owner is at the top of that list. There are many reasons for this, but I would list the following three as most critical: 1) a lack of thought and commitment; 2) a lack of trust; and 3) conflict avoidance.

A lack of thought and commitment is self-explanatory and referenced above. At its core, it’s an inability to effectively map organizational resources against problems or opportunities. People are always our most valuable resource. Even if you are a one-person shop, you typically have advisors, partners, or colleagues in your network with specific expertise—use them. If something is too hard or time-consuming for you to grasp or is of complete disinterest to you, find someone for whom this isn’t the case. Think this through each day. Many leaders are “penny-wise and pound-foolish” in this regard. Surround yourself with bright, hardworking people who possess the right complementary skills and share your values, and then let them do their job. Invest in talent now to avoid addressing more costly mistakes in the future. Don’t make the cardinal mistake of hiring people who are just like you. Hire and promote people who can do what you can’t or shouldn’t do. This will ultimately make you a better leader.

A lack of trust is a bit more complicated. Who would admit to knowingly hiring people they don’t trust? Once we have gone through the rigorous and careful process of hiring someone, we should trust them until proven otherwise. This doesn’t mean we throw them into the deep end of the pool and hope they can swim. But, once you’ve given them the basics, let them do their jobs.

The problem is that many leaders and managers struggle with the trust issue. They dole out trust as a valuable commodity. Instead of leveraging their team, they prefer to bet on a sure thing: themselves or a select few. This means their organizations inevitably hit a brick wall when it comes to growth and managing new opportunities. Good businesses require good people, and the bigger the stakes, the higher the quality of talent needed. You cannot attract and retain good people without trusting them.

Finally, there is conflict avoidance. The average leader or manager struggles to engage in direct and honest conversations about individual performance issues. As a result, we often resort to passive-aggressive behaviors rather than addressing issues early on, which can prevent them from becoming major problems. I’ve been in many organizations where considerable workarounds have been necessary due to individual behaviors and actions. In reality, individuals in organisations often exhaust every angle before addressing a difficult person or situation, unlike the stereotypical business owner or manager who is portrayed as having no conscience and being quick to fire. Think of how much valuable time and energy is wasted every day because of this behavior.  This does not mean you fire every non-performer; it means you have the responsibility of getting people to execute their tasks effectively. When an individual is not performing, let them know as soon as possible and communicate that you genuinely care and want them to succeed. They will not be well-received if it is perceived as inauthentic.

In summary, leverage is everything in business. You cannot grow your business or target new opportunities without the ability to leverage the talents of your people. A rare leader is successful despite their employees, colleagues, or partners. To effectively leverage your people, you need to take the time to think through the best ways to utilize their talents and abilities. Once you have hired someone and taken care of the basics to get them up and running, trust them until you are proven wrong. As they consistently perform, add to their responsibilities, and then trust them even more. Finally, address performance issues proactively and work in partnership with underperforming employees to get things back on track.

Will your business have a perfect record when it comes to leveraging its people? Not likely. However, I guarantee that you will have more time, feel less stressed, get better results, and build better relationships if you do these things. Who among us wouldn’t like to have these outcomes in our lives?

Related articles

• Leadership and Time (customerthink.com)
• Apply Positive Workplace Behavior To Soar Greater Heights (brighthub.com)
• Why Every Business Should Leverage – the Power of Leveraging (noobpreneur.com)
• How to Source and Select the Best Hires (slideshare.net)