What if you could do more by doing less?

Ben Marshall Feb. 5, 2018

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Many leaders are asked to do too much. Take a moment and consider your written job description, and then compare that with what your job entails. It seems a normal trend that many in leadership are being asked to do more than they are capable of doing on their own. 

It almost doesn’t matter whether you're leading your family, managing a fast food restaurant, teaching a classroom of students, coaching a team, leading a friend group, leading a small group in your home or any other number of leadership roles. Leaders are asked to do much and often too much.

This can, at times, be quite overwhelming. When you consider the number of responsibilities you have, the amount of time left on the clock and the appointments on your calendar, there is not enough time for you alone to do it all.  

I believe the health of a leader is revealed in these moments based on what he or she does next.

How’s your leadership health?

The unhealthy leader hunkers down and powers on. He or she drinks more coffee, gets less sleep, and works longer hours to get the job done. Relationships, health and rest are often sacrificed in the name of productivity and tasks. And wow do things get done! That checklist is full of marks, those endorphins are kicking in and you’re on the move! It can feel great for a time. Often, we gain recognition for doing more and accomplishing much, but at what cost? This is not a sustainable way of working or living. 

The healthy leader, on the other hand, takes time to think about the tension between what he or she is capable of doing and what he or she is being asked to do. When the task exceeds the capacity, a healthy leader looks for ways to give away responsibility; a healthy leader actively pursues delegation.

Are you willing to give away responsibility?

Delegation is a powerful tool. It is a strategy that leads to more work accomplished in less time and often of better quality. When a leader tries to do it all him or herself, the quantity of work often negatively impacts the quality of work. We can do more by doing less! John Maxwell has said that if someone can do something 80 percent as well as you can, hand it off to them.

Andy Stanley says, “The less you do, the more you accomplish and the more you enable others to accomplish…When we delegate what we’re not good at to the right person, we give another leader in our organization an opportunity to shine. One person’s weakness is another person’s opportunity.”

Healthy leaders know they need to delegate and they do it. They find other leaders in the organization who are perhaps not using their full potential, and the healthy leader calls them up to a new task and responsibility. Giving away responsibility helps enable others to take ownership and develop as leaders.

Developing a new generation of leaders

Delegation is hard but effective and it trains up and develops new leaders. It raises up a new generation of leaders who have been given challenges, had the opportunity to take risks and make mistakes in relatively safe environments.

There are tasks in our leadership roles that we are not great at. There are certainly many things within our skill and ability, which is why we're in this particular role, but there are other things asked of us or required of us that we just aren't great at. Those are the things a healthy leader seeks to delegate because “one person’s weakness is another person's opportunity.” 

There is a high likelihood there is someone in your organization with that skill set you don't have. Delegating the responsibility to them is a powerful move from a healthy leader.

Healthy leaders give away responsibility. Unhealthy leaders hoard responsibility and, if they delegate anything, they delegate tasks. When we delegate tasks, we develop followers; when we delegate responsibility we develop leaders.

What do you need to start delegating today? Who in your organization could you help raise up to own that responsibility?

Photo source: istock 

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Ben Marshall is a Pastor at Pathway Church in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He works with teenagers and young adults. He is passionate about leadership and raising up the next generation of biblical leaders. He is a blogger, guitar player and sports enthusiast. Ben currently resides in Beaver Falls with his wife Connie and their two daughters, Aliya and Sophie Learn More »

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