Doing Everything Yourself Isn’t Dedication—It’s Bad Leadership

“Letting go goes a long way.” 

Teach. You know more than anyone about your business. Without imparting some of this knowledge to others, employees can’t take over functions. In no time, you’ve created the very situation that you are trying to avoid—you doing everything. When you teach, don’t do it five minutes before something is due or you will simply take on the task yourself. Schedule time each week that is dedicated to teaching. You are not “allowing” people to take on more, you are “enabling” them to do so.

Have Employees Work as Teams. When two or more employees work together, they have the opportunity to not only improve each other’s work, but to learn more effectively. If your employees work as teams, you will have fewer individuals to train on distinct tasks and your mentorship will become more efficient.

Expose Employees to Issues Outside Their Core Areas. Let employees sit in on meetings, conference calls and dialogues that expose them to the various issues of your company. This helps employees get a context for the different tasks and prerogatives of your company.

Let People Make Mistakes. If you want things off your desk, you are going to have to accept some errors in the process. Let your team know that you expect this as part of the learning process.

Be Honest about Your Own Ego. Ask yourself, do I really believe that I am the only one that can do this, or is that my ego talking? I am concerned that others might do it better? Am I concerned that I will lose control?

If you enable others to do more, the benefits will be exponential. More focus on the right things. More engaged employees. More people that can bring their ideas to the resolution of an issue.