A perceived lack of trust in your team is one of the top risks to not letting go and giving up control of work
Let’s talk about vanquishing control at work. That’s not to say you are a control freak or a micromanager. If you have a team, or if you are a one-person team, or maybe you don’t have any team, and you’re working with people on a project who are critical to your success, should you loosen the reigns a little?
For many years early on in my career, I led as a matrix manager which meant I didn’t have direct reports, but I collaborated with and depended on a lot of people who were absolutely pivotal for my projects to be successful.
I’m hearing a lot of people here in the gutsy village share in our coaching calls and action huddles that while they may appreciate the people that they work with and in no way mean to exclude anyone, there is this innate need to get the job done all by yourself.
If you consider yourself a self-starter, gung-ho and no obstacle is too big for you. You know how things should be run and have so many ideas that you can implement, are you also seeking help in your role?
There’s a drawback to that if you’re not getting help in your role. Because we know what the positive is, right? We get to do things our own way. And they’re done perfectly. They’re done timely, there. There’s no confusion, and we don’t have to rely on anybody else. So we all know about the positive side, but what about the cost?
A lot of times, there’s a hidden cost. The number one hidden cost that you may not be realizing is not relying on your team – the trust factor. You’re essentially saying without saying, that you don’t trust others to do the job as well as you do. Or maybe you don’t trust that they will finish the activity that has to get done. Or maybe you don’t trust that they understand it. And so it’s so much easier to get it done yourself.
I’m sharing what I’ve experienced and many others whom I’ve coached have gone through. Full transparency here, there’s no shame or blame.
Before I forget, I want to be sure you know about my leading with authority audio course (it’s free) that’s designed to help you own your authority in your career and it works. It’s based on two decades of leading in Corporate America, (I’m a former Wall St. Executive) and those professionals I coach here at In Our Shoes. Now back to allowing in the support you need so you can stick to what you’re brilliant at…
Lack of support is another cost to not releasing control at work so you can lead effectively.
The second thing is, is having support. If you’re doing it all, then how are you going to accomplish other things? Where are you going to get the support you need? There’s the opportunity cost to work on other initiatives and programs that are meaningful for you as well. There’s only so many hours in the day, so that support is gone, when you’re putting everything you’ve got in, rolling up your sleeves and doing everything yourself.
How will you scale if you don’t let go and release control at work?
And the third cost is scalability. How will you scale? If you have one person on your team? How will you go to 10? How do you go to 100? If you have no one, no direct reports yet or no staff, no employees, how will you get there? You can even use a lateral team around you to work with and experiment with how you feel, delegating and giving others responsibility for certain things.
Now, this challenge also shows up not just if you’re working for a company, an organization, or an agency, it also shows up for business owners, it shows up for me as well, especially in the small business world. Where business owners are full of ideas, full of passion and purpose. And yet, are we really managing our time and our energy?
I shared a post here just recently about how to balance your energy, not your time. But today, I want you to really take an honest look and just really ask yourself if you’re being honest, are you releasing control in some way and letting others run with things that you are doing? I know not everything can be delegated. And not everything can be assigned, but can you take something off of your plate? And if you don’t have anybody, can you hire someone? Can you get a personal assistant or anyone, even if it’s a temp, pull someone from another area. There are lots of ways to skin that cat so, let’s really focus on the bigger picture and achieving the bigger things in life and getting the support that you need.
I just shared three reasons why you absolutely want to release that control. But in the long run, there is a big impact. We haven’t even discussed stress and anxiety and all the pressure that comes with that and overwhelm mode, which is actually, to be honest how this even came up in the first place on our coaching call.
A lot of anxiety and stress was coming up. And so this was a question that was asked and that’s exactly what I told the group in our action huddle call.
I hope this supports you and I will talk to you soon. All right, bye now!
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