Why Business Owners Hesitate to Hand Over the Reins
Over the last four weeks I have had conversations with small business owners at different stages in their entrepreneurial journey.
Some have been completely at ease on their summer break, enjoying some downtime, and have been busy making memories.
Others are pacing the beach on their phone, and when they are taking a break during the day they are spending their evenings “keeping on top of things”.
When I probed a little, it came down to one major thing – Delegation. Or perhaps their ability to do so, and more specifically a notion that they are the best at something.
So, why do business owners find it so hard to delegate tasks they excel at?
Here are some things that ran through my mind while pondering the topic.
Emotional Attachment and Identity
Business owners often closely identify with their business, and in their minds, their capability is directly linked to their identity. When it started they most likely excelled at something, the emotional attachment to these tasks they started with and excelled at is still strong.
Letting go of these tasks can feel like losing a part of their identity.
Fear of Losing Control
Some owners fear losing control over business operations. For example, thinking that delegating payment approval will send them broke or mean that their financial freedom will be compromised. Sometimes delegation can be seen as a risk to quality as If they are the only one who could ever do it right and error-free.
Control may be all that they have left, and they aren’t parting with it.
Lack of Trust in Others’ Abilities
Sometimes the challenge is as simple as not trusting others to perform to their standards. “No one can do it as well as I can” can be said so many different ways, buried under layers of obscurity; ultimately they don’t trust themselves to be able to teach others to do things the way they can.
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They’re so busy doing the “do” that they’ve lost sight of the importance of training and building a competent team.
The Perfectionist Trap
Another common theme that is often linked to two and three above is perfectionism. “I can't delegate it until I have perfected it!” Sometimes it is a process; the drive to document it perfectly means that it will never be documented, and we can’t delegate it until it is documented. And so goes the hamster wheel.
Perfection in every task is counterproductive.
Solutions and Strategies
My advice is to start small. You don’t walk into the gym with a desire to be stronger and start by lifting the heaviest weights. Choose manageable tasks first, build your confidence and theirs.
Introduce timelines, kind of like deadlines and check-in points. Give yourself hard deadlines to get something off your plate.
Look at it as a three-part process every time - 1 communication, 2 training, and 3 trust-building.
Communicate the expectation clearly, offer the opportunity to shadow you or to be trained by someone, check in with each other, and reinforce positive outcomes.
Delegation isn’t just about business growth, it is also about personal well-being.
Good luck.
Dan
I have written about delegation before, you can read that article here - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/delegation-games-nopineapples-daniel-williams/?trackingId=XNepSYnbQzaPcjeuzqEZjw%3D%3D
Top Mindful, and ND Coach Helping HR Professionals, Leaders and Neurodivergents Sleep Using Simple Language And Easy To Use Tools That Uncomplicate Lives | Group, 1:1 , 'Touch Base' Calls | Monthly | Zoom/Phone
9 个月In an era where distrust is the defining social feature of the way we relate to each other none of this is a surprise
Chief Partnership Officer @ PartnerElevate | Channel Ecosystem Building
10 个月Nailed it for sure Dan. The ability to do so correctly is a big challenge that I see and this inability along with the reasons you give is actually masking the real problem, that is, the inability to be clear on what is exactly required and why. When this isn't addressed, this inability becomes a "disability" for business owners.
Giving you the freedom to focus on your vision, not your inbox
10 个月Start small is really good advice Dan. Being in the business of delegation for over 25 years, my experience is very similar to the conversations you've had. I can do it better myself. I can do it cheaper myself. Both are myths. Michael Hyatt talks about the 5 levels of delegation in this article, a framework to help those new to the game outsource those tasks that aren't the best use of their time, successfully. https://fullfocus.co/the-five-levels-of-delegation/
Chief Commercial Officer at Tekspace
10 个月Great article Dan. I recently saw a helpful process for delegating complex tasks/roles (and building leaders). I can't remember exactly how it went, but it was something like this: 1. I do the work and you watch me. 2. I do the work and you help me. 3. You do the work and I help you. 4. You do the work.
Manager of Academy APAC Pax8, CompTIA ANZ EC Vice Chair
10 个月I struggle to delegate. It's the perfectionist in me. Nothing is ever done because nothing is ever perfect... The only positive for me is that I'm also a very glass-half-full and trusting person, so I generally trust everyone around me & trust that they're likely better than me at something. I need to remind myself that things don't have to be perfect to hand them over, and likely the person I hand it to will improve it and do a better job than me anyway ??