Latest / You're Overqualified Podcast - Career and Leadership Strategies for Women / 116. How to Lead With Authority Without Doing Everything Yourself
Transcript
- 0:08Hi, I'm Danny Tan and if you are here, you are in the right
- 0:11place. Welcome to the Pivot and
- 0:13Promotion podcast where we say forget the rules because they
- 0:16weren't written for us. I'm Danny Tan, I'm your host as
- 0:19well as career and leadership coach and a proud advocate for
- 0:21redefining what success and leadership looks like.
- 0:24And here's what I know. You can lead at any level, you
- 0:27can pivot at any age, and you can make moves that feel right
- 0:30for you. Whether you're climbing the
- 0:32perfect ladder, starting something completely new, or
- 0:34just figuring out your next step.
- 0:35I've got you covered with strategies, stories, and
- 0:38straight up inspiration. So let's make some moves.
- 0:45OK, so today we're going to be talking about how to lead with
- 0:49authority without doing everything yourself.
- 0:52So maybe you are a veteran to leadership, but you're starting
- 0:56to realize that you're picking up everything.
- 0:58Or maybe you're new to leadership and you're going from
- 1:00an individual contributor to a first time manager.
- 1:03Or maybe you just need a little reminder that being a leader
- 1:06does not necessarily mean doing everything yourself.
- 1:08And that's the reason why there are teams and support systems
- 1:11there for you. So let's go ahead and talk a
- 1:14little bit about out a lead with authority and without doing
- 1:17everything. So a little bit behind the
- 1:20scenes of me and what I have done is that I've worked on many
- 1:23different teams when it comes to building out teams.
- 1:25Went from being a sample coordinator to AVP of a multi
- 1:27billion dollar company. And within that I was going and
- 1:31building out different teams on all different kinds of levels
- 1:33from small organizations that are startups, from bigger
- 1:36organizations and corporations to the work that they do now
- 1:39when it comes to helping leaders support and build their teams
- 1:42and develop their leadership. So let's go ahead and dive in.
- 1:47All right, so going into today's session, the thing that I want
- 1:51you to kind of think about is doing more is not the answer.
- 1:55Doing more isn't the answer whatsoever.
- 1:58And I will be repeating this over and over and over again
- 2:00throughout this session that more does not mean more.
- 2:04Sometimes it actually means less.
- 2:06And so intentionality is so important when you are leading
- 2:09teams, when you're leading yourself in so many different
- 2:11ways. A lot of the times if you are
- 2:13stepping into leadership or let's just say you kind of like
- 2:16throw everything out the window, you will start to feel like you
- 2:20are torn between, I want to be a really good leader, I want to
- 2:22lead well, and I want to be respected and I want things done
- 2:25right. But you were somehow taking on
- 2:28more and more more tasks. And so there is this paradox
- 2:32when it comes to leadership of, you know, you feel like doing
- 2:35everything means that you're getting everything done and that
- 2:38you're developing your leadership because look at me,
- 2:41I'm getting so much done and I'm taking initiative.
- 2:43But also what you're actually doing is working against your
- 2:45own authority because now you're just the person who can execute
- 2:48and do things. What we actually need is for you
- 2:49to cultivate so many other skills when it comes to building
- 2:52authority, building trust, helping people feel like they
- 2:54have more autonomy. So let's dive in.
- 2:57So if you are a high performer and you're like, Oh my gosh, but
- 3:03I just got this promotion, I just got this leadership
- 3:06position, or I'm just so used to doing well and doing the best.
- 3:10You may see that it's hard for you to let go of the fact of
- 3:15being relied on. You have built your reputation
- 3:18of being really good at what you do from being a super reliable,
- 3:22you have built your credibility. You are like, Oh my gosh, I get
- 3:25things done. I do things well.
- 3:26And so you have this expectation set of yourself and this
- 3:29reputation set. So it's really hard when you're
- 3:31going from being that high performer, individual doer to
- 3:35being somebody's going to be a manager and leader that you have
- 3:37to actually learn to depend on other people.
- 3:40There's also this factor with fear when it comes to, Oh my
- 3:43gosh, if I let go of the projects and I'm not doing
- 3:47everything and I give it to somebody else, how will I know
- 3:50it's done well? How will I know it's done
- 3:51appropriately? Oh my gosh, all my job is is to
- 3:54manage people and lead them. I'm not actually executing the
- 3:58work myself. I'm not going to seem lazy that
- 3:59I'm not doing enough. Will I start to forget how
- 4:02things are done? All these thoughts are to come
- 4:04up and then at the end of the day, you're kind of and really
- 4:08honestly used to proving your worse through doing things.
- 4:11And so when you are new to leadership or new manager,
- 4:14you're kind of like, Oh my gosh, but I need to be involved still.
- 4:17How will I still stay relevant? They may not need me at that
- 4:20point. And so I just want you to
- 4:22remember that what made you successful as an individual
- 4:25contributor is not necessarily what's going to give you
- 4:27authority and make you a strong leader.
- 4:28And now you're about to find a new set of skills.
- 4:31So that was great then, but now it's something to look at a
- 4:33different lens. And this is, this is especially,
- 4:35especially true for my first and 2nd Gen. folks, for my women of
- 4:40color. We are so used to being the
- 4:42going to for everything. We are the go to for everything
- 4:45within our friends, within our family, within our work, in our
- 4:49teams, with our bosses. And so we're so used to being
- 4:52the executor, the doer, the one that gets things done, the one
- 4:55that makes things happen, the problem solver for every single
- 4:58department, for every single, you know, yeah, Theo, like, you
- 5:03know, cousins, parents. And so this is what I want you
- 5:07to know. When you're stepping into
- 5:08leadership, which you have been doing, it is now your time to
- 5:12start to let this melt off you of that you have to get
- 5:15everything done now. There's different sets of skills
- 5:17that you're going to develop in order to build this authority
- 5:19around yourself as a leader. And so the difference between
- 5:23control and authority, this is what I want you to kind of
- 5:26remember is that control comes from doing, checking, staying
- 5:30close to every single detail and making sure there's execution at
- 5:32every single step. Like I want to be in control to
- 5:35make sure it's executed a certain way.
- 5:37That is one piece. Then there's authority.
- 5:39Authority comes from being really clear, giving strategic
- 5:44direction, having trust and setting a vision and empowering
- 5:47others to help execute. So if you are a leader, you
- 5:50don't have to touch every single little thing that is being done
- 5:53and executed for to be done. Your job now is to make
- 5:57decisions to set the priorities and the vision and to make sure
- 6:00there's alignment across all the people that are working on this.
- 6:02I always say to, you know, folks, think about ACEO of a
- 6:06company. Do you think the CEO of the
- 6:07company is in every single little thing, touching every
- 6:11single little thing, helping every single person on every
- 6:14single little piece that rolls up to the company's mission of
- 6:17the CEO is not doing that. They are studying the vision,
- 6:19they are setting the mission and they are saying what needs to be
- 6:22done within what timelines and people execute.
- 6:24And so that is the difference between having authority versus
- 6:27having control. And so being able to know the
- 6:30difference. This is what happens is if you
- 6:33continue to allow yourself to be the go to for everything, you
- 6:37can create a dependency trap. So you're going to be in a
- 6:40vicious cycle of dependency where one everyone that you
- 6:45know, you will have set the tone that you're the one that's going
- 6:48to do it. You're the one that's going to
- 6:50get it done. And that does not help anyone
- 6:52because one that's not going to help you flourish as a leader,
- 6:54to develop your authority to be able to continue to grow and
- 6:58succeed as a leader. And also it's not going to help
- 6:59your team. So your team will also become
- 7:01dependent on you, the same where your cross functional team
- 7:04members and partners are. And so you need to be able to
- 7:07allow your team to grow and learn and let them allow
- 7:11themselves to problem solve, to learn that they're capable to
- 7:13have some autonomy. And so you don't want to create
- 7:15this dependency on yourself, which is why you should not do
- 7:17it yourself all the time. And you and also you're going to
- 7:20get stuck in the weeds like leaders should not be in the
- 7:23details of the tactical day-to-day.
- 7:26You're supposed to be there to create the strategy, the vision,
- 7:29be able to see what the future plan is.
- 7:31That way the team can roll up into that and then doesn't
- 7:34Createspace for you to think, think about the times as an
- 7:36individual contributor and executing things.
- 7:38How many times your manager probably said to you before you
- 7:40got your promotion, how you stepped into your first
- 7:43leadership role. Hey, it's really important for
- 7:46you to be able to focus on strategy.
- 7:48It's really important for you to share your POV.
- 7:50It's hard to do that if you are constantly in the weeds of
- 7:53execution, still helping folks with things.
- 7:55And so I just want you to remember in in so many ways is
- 7:59that if everything runs through you on your team, you're
- 8:05probably the bottleneck. You're probably slowing things
- 8:07down in some way, shape or form. If everything has to be
- 8:09finalized and approved and reviewed by you.
- 8:12There are ways to do it that makes sense without completely
- 8:15burning you out, burning your team out, as well as just making
- 8:19sure that you have time and space for strategy.
- 8:22You're not creating dependency on yourself and you're not
- 8:24getting stuck in the tactical. These are all important things.
- 8:27I have one client who everything had to be run by her.
- 8:32She actually wasn't a new time leader whatsoever.
- 8:35She's a very seasoned leader, but she was very worried about
- 8:38adopting this new team and worrying about, OK, now that I
- 8:40have this new team that maybe isn't performing as well.
- 8:44She just wanted to make sure that they were going to improve
- 8:47their performance. She didn't want it to be known
- 8:49that she had this team that was underperforming and then it was
- 8:51going to affect her reputation and what it is that she was
- 8:53doing. So versus maybe taking the time
- 8:56to mentor and coach them. She was actually just getting
- 9:00into the trenches with them for an execute stuff which
- 9:03disempowered them, didn't develop or train them and then
- 9:07create a dependency that she was going to get it done.
- 9:09And so knowing that the conversation that we had was how
- 9:11can you take a step back and understand what they need in
- 9:15order to help empower them and essentially activate them in a
- 9:19way that makes sense? So let's go ahead and talk a
- 9:22little bit more. So what authority looks like?
- 9:26So what it does not look like is micromanaging every detail,
- 9:30disappearing, you know, into all the things that are happening
- 9:34and then trusting without structure.
- 9:36Like you can't just say like, I don't want you to think
- 9:39authority is like, oh, I trust you.
- 9:40So now you do it. No, like you have to be able to
- 9:43trust people and empower them. You have to give them structure
- 9:45and support. That's definitely your job and
- 9:46your responsibility. I think the same thing with my
- 9:48clients, like my responsibility in the relationship is to give
- 9:51structure and support whereas needed for them to achieve the
- 9:54vision and the goals that they have set for themselves.
- 9:56And so knowing that that is where that comes from.
- 9:59What authority looks like when you are leading is you're having
- 10:02clear boundaries and expectations of what is wanted.
- 10:04So you're setting expectations of what this person is or what
- 10:07your team members are going to go ahead and achieve and you're
- 10:10making very strong and timely decisions.
- 10:13So the big strategy decisions that need to be, you know,
- 10:16decided for them to move forward, you help with that
- 10:19instead of just solving problems for them, you ask them questions
- 10:22and coach them to see what solutions they potentially have
- 10:25to help empower them. And then you let people also
- 10:28come to their own solutions and outcomes versus just always
- 10:32laying it out there for them. So I had one client who was a
- 10:36first time manager and she was saying that, you know, her team
- 10:39doesn't necessarily feel super motivated.
- 10:41One person's having issues with development, the other person's
- 10:44doing really well, but it's really inconsistent across the
- 10:47board. And so she says she's always in
- 10:49there, she's jumping, she's helping, she's rolling up her
- 10:51sleeves. And so one of the questions I
- 10:52asked her was, OK, so it sounds like whenever there's that's the
- 10:55problem, you're there and you're ready.
- 10:57But if they feel like they're all at different levels when it
- 11:01comes to how they show up to work and how they contribute and
- 11:04what they're good at, whenever there is an issue, do you open
- 11:07up the question for them and ask them, hey, you know, based off
- 11:10of what's going up on the issue that's happening, what would you
- 11:13recommend? Because they're closest to it,
- 11:15right? Like once you start to move up,
- 11:17you're not as in the weeds anymore.
- 11:18And she said no, Usually I come with a solution.
- 11:21And so the biggest things in like the smallest shift of like
- 11:23creating authority and not doing everything is asking the
- 11:26question to those who are in that role, hey, what do you
- 11:29think would be the best solution for this?
- 11:31What do you recommend being closer to it?
- 11:32And then of course, if they get stuck, if they're unsure,
- 11:36working that through with them, yes, I'm sure you have the
- 11:38answer at the end of the day. But helping them start to build
- 11:41that confidence for themselves and helping them build that
- 11:44belief in themselves as well helps you in the long run
- 11:49develop this person, but also create authority for yourself
- 11:51versus executing everything. And so how can you shift
- 11:55something in your relationship with a team that you work with?
- 11:58I'm either asking questions or prompting versus doing
- 12:01everything 1st. And so the biggest shift that I
- 12:04see within leaders, what they're making is that they have to
- 12:06realize that building authority and building your leadership
- 12:10does not come from being busy one more time.
- 12:15Building authority and being a leader does not come from being
- 12:19busy. That is something that served
- 12:22you as potentially an individual contributor as like being super
- 12:26busy, getting things done, executing, but that isn't it.
- 12:29No one here is going to be like giving you a round of applause
- 12:34for constantly being like super, super busy, taking on too many
- 12:37tasks because now you have a team.
- 12:39So all the additional tasks that you take on your team takes on.
- 12:42And so the other thing is, is like being able to understand
- 12:45that your standards, they can say, hi, you're not lowering
- 12:50your standards by giving up responsibility, by giving your,
- 12:55your, by being able to give up responsibility to your team,
- 12:59right? And dole out responsibilities
- 13:01versus doing everything yourself.
- 13:03It doesn't mean that you're lowering the standard.
- 13:05It means that you're raising the capacity and the capabilities of
- 13:09your team members. You're training them, you're
- 13:10mentoring them, you're developing them.
- 13:12And so it's actually that you are not going to lose the
- 13:15quality of your work just because you're, your, your team
- 13:17is doing it. You're actually going to empower
- 13:19them and train them and coach them and help them become even
- 13:22better. And the last piece is like, you
- 13:24have to be able to embrace this discomfort, this control piece
- 13:28where if I'm doing it myself and I do everything myself, that I'm
- 13:31able to control the outcomes. Sorry, but like being a leader
- 13:36requires for you to be a little bit uncomfortable.
- 13:38There is some ambiguity. You have to trust others.
- 13:41You have to also Createspace and allow them to make mistakes and
- 13:44to grow. And there's a way to do it
- 13:45safely. I had one leader who was always
- 13:48like, but if I let them do it and they mess it up, we're in
- 13:50big trouble. OK, great.
- 13:52So let's create a system. Let's create a system that this
- 13:56team member will do the first pass of this by this deadline.
- 13:59Then you're going to come in at that touch point, review it,
- 14:01give feedback, give them a second time to do it.
- 14:03And and then they can execute it.
- 14:05The final version that is There's ways to allow and
- 14:08empower and teach and coach and mentor other people without
- 14:12creating business risk. They just spell planning and
- 14:16structure. So I just want you to know it's
- 14:18not your job as a leader to prove that you are the most
- 14:21useful. It is really your job to make
- 14:23your team effective. You're there to remove
- 14:26roadblocks. You're there to remove issues.
- 14:28You're there to hear them out and to hear their solutions and
- 14:30help them if they get stuck. That is really your job is to
- 14:33help your team member shine like no one cares if you're doing it
- 14:36all. It what matters if you develop
- 14:37the team to do it. And so many leaders have this
- 14:39like breakthrough moment when they start to realize that wait
- 14:42a minute, it's actually about the team and not about me doing
- 14:47everything. It's about me empowering,
- 14:48enabling, not enabling, but you know what I mean?
- 14:50It's me empowering and making it them all able to do the things
- 14:53they want to do. And So what can you do?
- 14:56What changes when leaders stop doing everything?
- 14:58Your team is going to build their confidence.
- 14:59They're going to have ownership over the work that they do.
- 15:01They're going to stop having like feeling like they have to
- 15:04go to you for every little thing and get permission.
- 15:06They're going to start problem solving on their own.
- 15:08You know how amazing it is when you have a team of people who
- 15:10can all creatively problem solve versus it just being your your
- 15:14POV? That's how you innovate
- 15:16organizations. That's how you innovate
- 15:17companies. Different backgrounds, different
- 15:19ideas, different cultures, different perspectives.
- 15:22And then you create mental space.
- 15:23It creates mental space for you as a leader to start to think
- 15:26about like what is most important to grow, develop,
- 15:29create vision and strategy that helps you in the long run
- 15:31because you're helping the higher purpose of the
- 15:33organization and yourself develop.
- 15:35That also creates mental space for your director boards because
- 15:38now they're stopping worrying about when you're going to come
- 15:40in and micromanage them. And that's how you start to
- 15:43develop leadership presence because now you're being seen as
- 15:47a strategist. Now you're seeing being seen as
- 15:49a decision maker, a visionary, not just a doer executor.
- 15:53And so that's the biggest thing that happens.
- 15:55This is how my clients get promoted.
- 15:57This is how my clients become better leaders.
- 16:00They are so have had and are used to having leaders who are
- 16:04the micromanagers, who are the ones who are not developing
- 16:07them, the ones who do not care about their perspective.
- 16:09And guess what? They're leaving them, OK?
- 16:11And they're getting new jobs or they're becoming bosses and
- 16:13leaders themselves. And so I want you, especially if
- 16:15you're like watching this and listening to this, I want you to
- 16:18make this stuff happen for yourself because what we need
- 16:20are leaders who actually care about their development that are
- 16:22watching stuff like this. Because let me tell you,
- 16:27managers, bosses, CE OS leaders, they don't have required
- 16:31leadership training to get promoted.
- 16:33And so it's so funny, the ones that do end up getting promoted
- 16:35and putting leadership positions who end up, I don't know, having
- 16:38their teams with high turnover and burnout.
- 16:40So you be the one that steps up and you be the one who doesn't
- 16:43take everything on, but knows how to educate, coach, mentor
- 16:46and train the people that you work with.
- 16:49And so this is what I want you to focus on this week.
- 16:51So I would love for you to start to build some some some momentum
- 16:56when it comes to this. So if you have a team, you're
- 16:58early contributor, early individual contributor, even if
- 17:00you are still trying to get into a leadership position, you can
- 17:04still test this out. And if you're somebody who's
- 17:06seasoned and senior, you can still test this out because
- 17:08listen, even myself with all the different kinds of teams that
- 17:13I've hired, developed and trained, I even still sometimes
- 17:15have a little moment where I have to check myself, where I
- 17:19start to get in the weeds and I start doing everything, OK.
- 17:21So it does not matter if you have had 10 + 20 plus years in
- 17:25the game when it comes to being a leader, even you even you
- 17:28know, you can sometimes get in the thick of it and lose sight
- 17:33of being able to empower and mobilize other people and the
- 17:37people that are on your team. So the first thing I want you to
- 17:39do is I want you to identify 1 task that you are potentially
- 17:42doing that, you know, you don't have to do anymore.
- 17:45Like what is 1 task that you don't need to be doing anymore
- 17:47that you can, you know, go ahead and allocate to somebody on your
- 17:50team. That's the first piece.
- 17:51And the second piece is I want you to clarify with that person,
- 17:54OK, what does a job well done look like at this?
- 17:57Like what are the expectations for that task?
- 17:59They're taking on timelines, the quality of work, what needs to
- 18:02be done? And then I want you to then
- 18:04allow them to work on it. And I don't want you to like
- 18:06give give them answers if there's a problem, I want you to
- 18:08start to meet with them either weekly or bi weekly on how they
- 18:11have taken that on and integrated and transitioned into
- 18:13that into taking on that task and owning it.
- 18:15So it could be something as simple as like a report.
- 18:18It could be something as simple as, you know, a workflow that
- 18:22they've been doing. It'd be so simple of something
- 18:24small, but thinking about what that looks like.
- 18:27And you know, remember, you don't have to let go of
- 18:29everything at once. Just practice doing this one
- 18:31thing at a time so you can start to release doing everything
- 18:34yourself and being able to empower others in order to help
- 18:38you. And that's how you really lead
- 18:39with authority is by building trust and empowering others.
- 18:43And so just know that if leading authority does not come from
- 18:47doing more, it comes from clarity, trust and being able to
- 18:49help others and showcasing that value.
- 18:51And so if you are somebody who is trying to shift from the
- 18:55doing it all person to now the leading person and you wanted to
- 18:58be a successful transition to being a leader or maybe just
- 19:02need a little wake up call to check in, know that this is the
- 19:04work that I do within private coaching.
- 19:06So I have amazing clients who have gone from individual
- 19:09contributors to leaders or who are seasoned leaders.
- 19:12And they are either developing teams, hiring teams,
- 19:15reinvigorating teams that maybe haven't been performing as well.
- 19:18And I help them when it comes to identifying like themselves,
- 19:22their leadership of what they're trying to develop for themselves
- 19:25and as well as the leadership they can do develop for their
- 19:27teams. And so within private coaching,
- 19:28we work together in order to make this happen in three to six
- 19:31months. And so you can learn more about
- 19:33that by going to my website at dannytan.com.
- 19:35That's DAMIT aam.com. Go to the contacts page and go
- 19:39ahead and book a call with me. When you book a call with me,
- 19:42you fill out an intake form and then what happens next is we get
- 19:45on a call, we talk about what your goals are, what challenges
- 19:48you're facing, and then I will talk about what it's like to
- 19:50work together in private coaching.
- 19:52I'll give you a custom plan and then we kick it off from there.
- 19:55My style is very much a mixture of facts and feelings, as all my
- 19:58clients say. And so I will always give you
- 20:01strategy on what it is it looks like to what it is you want to
- 20:04achieve. I always give you action items
- 20:06to. Take away and to work on in
- 20:08order to help develop those things.
- 20:09And my goal is always for you to be able to walk away with some
- 20:12new skills that you developed to help you for a lifetime.
- 20:14That's always my goal. And I always say this to my
- 20:17clients. They're my clients for life.
- 20:19And so I have clients that have worked with me for years.
- 20:22And even if you're not working with me consistently, I still
- 20:25check on you years later. I had a call earlier today with
- 20:28actually 2 clients, one that I worked with three years ago and
- 20:31one that I worked with about two years ago.
- 20:33And I still check in because I want to know how you're doing.
- 20:35And so it's always really awesome to hear how much they
- 20:37are, they're thriving, they're doing well, and it's always
- 20:40great to support them. And so again, if you are
- 20:43curious, you want to learn more, go to my website.
- 20:45But it's been great talking to you and have a great one.