"I got this." Three of the Most Powerful Words You Can Say to Your Boss.

“I got this.”? Three little words.? The first time I heard them as a leader, they filled me with fear and dread.? Now when I hear them, they mostly fill me with pride and excitement.? “I got this” are the three most powerful words you can say to your boss.? And as a leader, having someone on your team say these words to you can signal a game-changing moment — when you transition from the driver of change and progress to a supporter and enabler of your team.??

The first time I heard them from a subordinate was as a new second lieutenant in the airborne infantry.? I had just arrived at my unit, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in Vicenza, Italy.? I was fresh out of college, the Infantry Officer Basic Course and Ranger School.? I was eager but a greenhorn.? At some point, my commander gave me and my fellow rifle platoon leaders a directive. “We WILL have the highest physical fitness score in the battalion.”? Not a lot ambiguity.? I looked at our scores. We had plenty of room for improvement.??

One of our squad leaders walked by as I sat there in our double-wide turned company office, pouring over the Army manual on physical fitness and developing a plan.? He looked down at my desk, saw the open book and my laptop, and asked, “Sir, What are you doing?”??

“Building our physical fitness plan.”??

He paused, clearly thinking about how to respond.? As he did so, he lowered his eyes and shook his head in disappointment.? I was confused.? Isn’t this what I was supposed to be doing?? Officers plan.? NCO’s execute.??

Before telling the rest of the story, I need to provide a bit more background.? In front of me was Staff Sergeant Stephen Melians.? Not only was Sergeant Melians my best squad leader but he hailed from the famed 75th Ranger Regiment, the place us young officers dreamed of someday going.? More impressive, he had a “mustard stain” on his jump wings.? A mustard stain is the slang for a gold star on his jump wings, something you earn by jumping into combat.? Sergeant Melians had jumped into Panama with the Ranger Regiment…AFTER he had been shot in the leg through the fuselage of the airplane from ground fire while preparing to jump!? Bat Boy. Purple Heart.? Mustard Stain. The guy was harder than woodpecker lips, as my platoon sergeant used to say.??

So when Sergeant Melians finished thinking and said, “I got this,” and I started to explain that I was responsible, he raised his hand to stop me.

“Sir, I got this.? Leave this to me and the other squad leaders.? The platoon will do great.”? What choice did I have?? So I did.? And it worked!? The platoon worked incredibly hard.? Sergeant Melians had them doing crazy things I never would have dreamed of (or likely been allowed to do) and the platoon loved him for it.? As an added bonus, I did less work.???

I forget if we ever got the highest score, but I never forgot the lesson: If you have good leaders who want responsibility and you trust them with it, good things will happen.???

The Flip Side of Delegation

We all know delegation is one of the more important skills you can learn as a leader. It is a key piece of the transition from being an outstanding individual contributor and “do-er” to the person coordinating and leading the activities of multiple people. But one of the most important skills of someone on a team is to take ownership of the tasks that need to be done.? “I got this” signals ownership.? It is beyond acceptance.? It is staking claim to solving the problem and putting your own reputation at risk for the outcome of the project. It is a bold claim of right and responsibility.??

It is also a great way to tell a leader (politely) to back off and let the subordinate leader go to work.??

If you, as the leader, are willing to let your people “get it” everything changes. Your job will shift from directing and managing to guiding and supporting.? Your workload will drop. Your stress level may rise in the short term as you learn to trust your people, but long term it will decrease significantly.?

The bottom line: the teammate who can take a task, own it, and work with others to make it happen is the most valuable teammate you can have.??

Before everyone runs off and says, “I got it” to their boss, there are a few critical pieces to make “I got this” a success:

1. You actually have to “have it.” When you say, “I got this” you are asking your boss to trust you, to give you room to operate and see the thing through.? You have to perform…and not just perform well.? You need to be outstanding.? It’s ok if it doesn’t go perfectly, but you need to put in the work.? You have to reward the trust of the leader by showing them how good you can be if left alone to lead.? If you say “I got this” and don’t get it done well, you will significantly hurt the trust between you and your manager.
2. Proactively keep the leader informed.? Put yourself in your leader’s shoes for a moment.? You’ve just asked them to trust you with something important to them.? They will be worried.? They will be fighting their instinct to get personally involved.? Help them by proactively telling them what is going on…in detail.? That means not waiting to be asked for an update.? Think about it. You’ve just seized the initiative with your manager.? Keep it.? Your leader is trying their best not to ask or micromanage.? They are fighting their fears of failure.? Reward them. Teach them.? TELL THEM.? That means you have to draft the email before they ask.? Better yet, call them.? Best yet, book a short meeting with them.? Do this again and again and again until the task is done.? You get huge bonus points if you schedule a follow-up after the task is complete and ask what you could have done better or differently.?

During the update meetings, if you’re making judgment calls, tell your manager the decisions you’re making and why.? If you’ve got a plan, explain the plan and make sure they’re aligned.? You don’t want to get too far down the road and realize you’re going in a different direction than what your leader wanted.? The military calls these “azimuth checks.” and the more you do them the better.? Again, the more proactive you are, the more trust you’ll build.??

Another key point is that during those azimuth checks, you need to explain the good and the bad and the ugly.? Every project has challenges.? Nothing goes perfectly.? No one can anticipate every issue.? So when a subordinate says to me, “Everything is great” there are only two possibilities in my mind: (1) They have no idea what is going on, or (2) They do and are trying to keep me in the dark.? Neither are great.? I would so much rather hear “We’re on track for A, B & C, but D & E are behind for the following reasons.? My plan to address them is X, Y & Z.”? The leader is demonstrating they know what’s up, what’s not working, and they have a plan to fix it.? It builds confidence.????

3. Check expectations of timing and due dates.? Bob Borcherdt of In2Great and a former coach of mine likes to say, “The greatest source of frustration is unmet expectations.” In these azimuth checks, you need to make sure you spend time understanding your leader’s expressed and, more importantly, unexpressed expectations.? When do they want it done?? How much do they want to be involved?? What does success look like to them?? Don’t assume anything, particularly as you’re building trust.??

4. You are not alone. “I got this” does not mean you have to do it alone or that you won’t run into roadblocks and need help.? Nearly every project requires multiple people and the more senior you are, the more likely the needed people aren’t part of your team.? “I got this” doesn’t mean you have to do it alone, only that you want to help herd the cats.

5. Ask for help if you need it.? ? Where subordinates are doing the work and leading their teams, the boss’ main jobs are (1) getting resources (people and capital) and (2) getting things unstuck inside or outside the organization.? If you need these things, ask.? To build trust, you need to try on your own first but if you’re really stuck for lack of resources or because someone or something is truly blocking, ask for help.? Instead of being a failure, someone asking for help builds trust because I know if the person reaches the limit of their ability or authority, they are confident enough and humble enough to ask for help.??

Trusting people when they tell me “I got this” has often resulted in fantastic results.? Have balls been dropped?? Sure.? But the vast majority of time, I’ve been rewarded with less work, a happier subordinate leader, and better results.? I’ve also learned to read the tea leaves (or the absence of proactive updates) and check in. It has saved me a few times and allowed me to coach along the way while still allowing them to lead and complete the task.??

So get out there and try it!? If you’re ready to step up, take true ownership of a problem, let your manager know by telling them, “I got this.”? It’s a great challenge for you, a way to grow trust with your boss, and a way to help move your organization forward at a far faster pace with far happier teammates.??

Onward!

Jeff

A FAVOR BEFORE YOU GO:? If you found value in this or other blog posts of mine, I would appreciate it if you would give it a like, leave a comment and share it with your network. I don’t get paid for any of this, but it helps get the word out and contribute to the conversation on leadership. Thanks!

About Jeff:? Jeff Blair is passionate about leadership and building great teams.? He’s President and CEO of GreenPoint Ag, a farmer-owned agricultural supply company in the Southeastern U.S.? GreenPoint is #7 on Crop Life 100’s list of largest agricultural retailers and was recently recognized as an Employee Engagement Top Performer (top 10%) for 2022. He learns new lessons every day and loves to share a few of those lessons with others on similar leadership journeys. More from Jeff can be found at TwoTrianglesLeadership.com.