Not everything is grunt work, even if YOU hate it
For a long time I thought that management meant delegating away the things I already knew how to do. And once I had done that, I could be more strategic. When my employees got stuck, I would have the answer. I wasn’t doing this out of ill intent. I genuinely felt like I would be taking advantage of people if I gave them work outside of my knowledge. This feeling only increased if what I was asking them to do felt like grunt work - boring, uninteresting. I thought I was being nice and kind by showing that I would never give them something that was “below” me.
One experience forced me to rethink this.
Before coaching, I ran a sales organization responsible for establishing new, strategic partnerships. Our solutions were customized and technical, so we spent a lot of time in person with clients. (Remember those days!) We’d begin each day at workouts with our clients and complete long days with group dinners. As an introvert, I was often exhausted by the demands. At a particularly tough dinner (meaning I DID NOT want to be there), I was failing to create banter with a set of whip smart engineers. One of my employees, seeing me struggle, suggested we switch seats.
I am thankful she did.
For the rest of the evening I watched her tell stories and jokes that engaged people in a way that was impossible for me. I admired her ease while I happily had an intense and deep one on one interaction with a good friend and colleague.
That night in my hotel room, I realized that she enjoyed something I hated. I let go of the need to be someone I was not and do something that I could not. And it allowed her to shine and have ownership for something that made her feel valuable.
My fear that I would force her to do something I did not want to do blinded me to the idea that she might actually enjoy it. It was not dirty work to her. It was fun. And she gained a reputation as the person to sit next to at dinners. She inspired engineers who would otherwise opt out to join us at dinner during future visits. A shift that was invaluable to our relationships with clients.
That one small realization opened the door for me to have my team take on work that
I had no interest in, but was good for our business
Was not already figured out, but allowed my team to be creative and feel valued
It also, more importantly, allowed me to really listen to myself. To understand what I did enjoy and what I was uniquely good at doing to drive results. I was able to begin uncovering my own personal leadership style. Spoiler: it was no longer doing everything.
Shine On,
Alicia