Coaching in analogies #20: Mail the gas bill
Delegation comes up often in my coaching sessions, especially with emerging leaders. They’re curious: how can I get my team to perform more effectively on the programs and projects I delegate to them? And I hear a different question in this question: how can I bring myself to fully hand off something I know I can do better?
I ask my clients to think of delegation like mailing the gas bill.
A generation ago, you’d get your gas bill in the mail once a month. You’d sit down with a pen and a check register, write a check, tear the stub off the bill, stuff it all in the envelope with a stamp on it… and deposit it in the nearest mailbox. Digital billing and banking have cut out a lot of the steps for many of us, but I like this example because of the physical finality of the act. When the door slams shut, you’re out.
You’ve exhausted your responsibility by mailing the check. From this point through the gas company crediting your account for the payment, there is nothing for you to do. A dozen more things might need to happen next, but they’re all in the hands of others. The next time you’re supposed to think about the gas bill isn’t until next month, when you see the payment on your next bill and have to do it again.
If you really want to, you can call the gas company in a few days to make sure they got your check. But why?
And so it is with a complete, successful delegation. You’ve given enough input and direction to the person on your team who gets the assignment. You’ve let them know that the entire process from here until completion is theirs, and you don’t need to be involved. You don’t need to direct the individual steps that lead them to the outcome. In fact, you don’t even need to know what those steps are. They can come to you with an unexpected obstacle or to ask you to clarify your expectations. But the work is theirs. You’ve handed it off. Completely.
Is this risky? You bet. Is it especially risky if you’ve spent years of your life doing the exact type of thing you’ve now asked this team member to do, and building a reputation for being really good at it? Absolutely.
But the doing isn’t your job anymore, and neither is being involved in the doing. Your job is to create the space for the other person to do. Perhaps they’ll do it less effectively. Perhaps they’ll fail. But this is how someone grows into the next person who’s known for being really good at that thing. Maybe someday they’ll even get better at it than you were.
And if that happens, you’ll be a really successful leader for having enabled the growth.
Coaching prompts:
Are you hanging on to tasks or projects that you could delegate to someone else? Why?
What would be necessary for you to let go?
This analogy comes from my book Don’t Just Have the Soup: 52 Analogies for Leadership, Coaching and Life. If you don’t have a copy, get yours today!