“Don’t do anything someone else can do for you.” Bill Marriott. Sr. Our last lesson and it is the moment to master, “the art of delegation. As you may already know, it is impossible to manage and grow your business unless you are willing to take the risk and let those fine souls you issue pay checks to assume responsibility and help you carry the burden of running your business. Only by learning to multiply your talents through the skills of others will you be a leader and a successful entrepreneur Do you have trouble delegating? Is it your lack of trust in your employees, your lack of patience, or do you subscribe to the phrase, “if you want something done right do it yourself?” Unless you are the only person in your business, reluctance to share the workload will cripple your company. It is foolhardy to think you can do everything yourself- beyond driving yourself crazy, you will collapse from exhaustion and your business will collapse on you. Entrepreneurs with delegation problems tend to fall into two extremes: those who cannot, and must do everything themselves-known as “micro-managing” or those who are willing to turn everything over and take the afternoon off, trusting that the company will run smoothly. Either can lead to failure; delegation is like other things in life, best through moderation. You will find that delegation is part personality and part ability. It is the sense to trust within reasonable limits, the ability to sort out priorities, assign responsibilities, and the ability to manage the activities of others. You will discover that successful delegation comes from the practice of clarity, reasonableness, patience, and interest in the outcome. If you want to delegate successfully, start with your hiring practices. If you have no faith in those you are hiring to do the job for you, don’t hire them, you are wasting your precious cash, and adding to your frustration level. But assuming you have reasonably talented employees, with an interest in their jobs, learning to delegate is straightforward. 1. Find someone to do the task 2. Show the person what to do and how you want it done. 3. Check back to see if it was done and if it was done the way, you instructed. Problems rise from assigning the task to the wrong person with fuzzy instructions and unrealistic expectations. Think about it, problems with delegation start with you- if you fail to be clear with you instructions and if you are impatient with the results, expect difficulty. Or, if you are in a hurry to turn over the task-disappear and expect perfection –expect more difficulty. If it is new to you, start by assigning activities that if screwed up, have minor consequences. As you feel your way, compliment the successes-positive reinforcement works wonders-and when things go wrong, spend some time to find out why. As you free yourself from some of the daily tasks of your business, you are learning how to multiply your talents through others. You are delegating; you are getting things done through the actions of others. You are mastering the basics of management: Identify the task, identify the risk, turn over the task, review the results, and move on. In time, delegation results in sharing the decision-making responsibility with your employees, creating a collective judgment that may result in better decisions. If you see yourself as a coach, with a team of employees that will make your success possible, then sharing opinions can by valuable to you. If you respect the opinion of your employees, you may respect their judgment as well. How much you should delegate and involve your employees in deciding the issues of your company depends on the style of leadership you are most comfortable with. But, regardless of your fashion, there will always be some issues only you can decide. Generally, the larger the risk, the more the decision must be yours alone- but, the more you may need the thoughts of others. However you see yourself as an entrepreneur, I believe if you learn to delegate you will have a better chance of building a successful business. Do you recall the story of the man to busy fishing with a spear that he had no time to weave a net? Dr. Paul E Adams, Professor Emeritus Business Administration Ramapo College of New Jersey Author “ Fail Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful.” Available at Amazon.Com If you have questions about your business- contact me: drfailproof@earthlink.net