Latest / The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson / Delegate or Drown: The Real Cost of Doing It All With Jennifer Ann Johnson
Transcript
- 0:36Jennifer Johnson: We're diving into something that hits close to home for so many of us: the struggle to let go of control and actually delegate effectively.
- 0:44Jennifer Johnson: If you're listening to this, chances are you're somebody who takes pride in your work, who cares deeply about quality, and who probably has caught themselves saying, I'll just do it myself because I can do it better.
- 0:57Jennifer Johnson: And you've probably done that more times than you would like to admit.
- 1:01Jennifer Johnson: I get it because I've been there.
- 1:03Jennifer Johnson: In fact, I spent years of my career being what I now call a productivity bottleneck, somebody who's focused on doing everything perfectly, that I was actually holding back my entire team's potential.
- 1:15Jennifer Johnson: Today I want to share what I've learned about breaking free from that pattern and how delegation isn't just about getting things off your plate.
- 1:22Jennifer Johnson: It's about multiplying your impact exponentially.
- 1:26Jennifer Johnson: So let's start with the truth that may sting a little bit for a lot of us.
- 1:31Jennifer Johnson: When you insist on doing everything yourself, you're not being a hero.
- 1:35Jennifer Johnson: I know that probably sounds really harsh, but you're being a liability, not just to your organization, but to yourself and your own growth.
- 1:43Jennifer Johnson: I learned this lesson the hard way about five years ago.
- 1:46Jennifer Johnson: I was managing a team of about eight people, and I was personally reviewing every single email that went out.
- 1:52Jennifer Johnson: I was approving every small decision and I was staying late to quote unquote fix what was probably fine to begin with, but I didn't think it was.
- 2:02Jennifer Johnson: I thought I was being thorough.
- 2:03Jennifer Johnson: I thought I was maintaining the quality standards of my business.
- 2:06Jennifer Johnson: And what I was actually doing was creating a culture where my team stopped thinking for themselves.
- 2:14Jennifer Johnson: The breaking point actually came during a really busy, busy time when I got sick and I had to take three days off.
- 2:21Jennifer Johnson: When I came back, I discovered that virtually nothing had moved forward.
- 2:27Jennifer Johnson: My team had been sitting on decisions.
- 2:29Jennifer Johnson: They were waiting for my approval on the smallest things.
- 2:33Jennifer Johnson: And that's when I realized that I hadn't been protecting the quality.
- 2:39Jennifer Johnson: I'd been protecting my own ego in a way while accidentally training my team to be dependent on me.
- 2:48Jennifer Johnson: So the real cost of not delegating isn't just your time, it's the opportunity cost of what you could be doing instead.
- 2:55Jennifer Johnson: Every hour that you spend on a task that someone else could handle is an hour that you're not spending on strategic work that only you can do.
- 3:03Jennifer Johnson: It's an hour you're not investing in developing your team, and it's an hour that you're not creating the kind of value that actually moves the needle.
- 3:12Jennifer Johnson: So when we talk about how to develop a delegate effectively, we need to understand why it's hard to begin with, why we can't begin to do this.
- 3:23Jennifer Johnson: Because if you're like most high achievers, you've got some pretty compelling reasons for keeping everything under your control.
- 3:31Jennifer Johnson: You think you're the only one that can do it great.
- 3:34Jennifer Johnson: And that's the first thing.
- 3:35Jennifer Johnson: It's the quality concern.
- 3:36Jennifer Johnson: You tell yourself that no one else can do it as well as you can, and you know what?
- 3:40Jennifer Johnson: You might be right initially.
- 3:43Jennifer Johnson: But here's what you're missing: Delegation isn't about finding somebody who can do it exactly like you.
- 3:49Jennifer Johnson: It's about finding someone who can do it well enough and then helping them actually get better over time.
- 3:56Jennifer Johnson: You see, I once worked with a CEO who refused to let anyone handle client presentations because he was gifted at it, is what he said.
- 4:05Jennifer Johnson: But his insistence on doing every single presentation himself meant that he was spending 60% of his time on doing something that, yes, it was important, but it wasn't the highest and best use of his skills.
- 4:19Jennifer Johnson: And meanwhile, his team never developed presentation skills because he never gave them the chance to practice.
- 4:26Jennifer Johnson: And second, it's the time trap.
- 4:28Jennifer Johnson: You think it's faster to just do it yourself than explain to someone else how to do it.
- 4:33Jennifer Johnson: This is classic short-term thinking.
- 4:36Jennifer Johnson: And guys, I have been there, I have done this.
- 4:39Jennifer Johnson: Yes, it's going to take longer upfront to train somebody, to create systems, to check their work initially.
- 4:45Jennifer Johnson: But that's the investment.
- 4:47Jennifer Johnson: And that's the investment that pays dividends forever.
- 4:52Jennifer Johnson: Every minute you spend training someone to handle a task that's reoccurring, it buys back hours of your time and your freedom in the future.
- 5:03Jennifer Johnson: And finally, this is the big one.
- 5:06Jennifer Johnson: There's the control issue.
- 5:07Jennifer Johnson: Deep down, a lot of us believe that we're not directly involved in everything.
- 5:12Jennifer Johnson: Something is going to be wrong, and it's going to be our fault.
- 5:15Jennifer Johnson: This is where we need to have an honest conversation with ourselves about what really is driving the need for this control.
- 5:22Jennifer Johnson: Is it about the work?
- 5:23Jennifer Johnson: Maybe it's about our identity.
- 5:25Jennifer Johnson: Are we afraid that if that we become indispensable?
- 5:30Jennifer Johnson: We may not be valuable, then it becomes an ego thing.
- 5:34Jennifer Johnson: And then we have to go through a mindset shift.
- 5:37Jennifer Johnson: The biggest breakthrough in my own journey with delegation came when I stopped thinking about it as giving up control and started thinking about it as multiplying my impact.
- 5:49Jennifer Johnson: So I had to ask myself, how can I make sure, instead of asking myself, I should say, how can I make sure this gets done right?
- 5:57Jennifer Johnson: I started asking, how can I create a system or systems that ensures that this gets done right, even when I'm not involved?
- 6:07Jennifer Johnson: And that shift changed everything.
- 6:09Jennifer Johnson: Instead of being the person who does the work, I became the person who helped them figure out how to get it done.
- 6:16Jennifer Johnson: Instead of being that single point of productivity, I became the force multiplier for the entire team.
- 6:24Jennifer Johnson: Think about it this way: if you can personally handle 10 tasks at your current level of quality, but you can train and support five people to handle those same tasks at 80% of what you can do, you've just created 50 units of output instead of 10.
- 6:40Jennifer Johnson: And here's the kicker.
- 6:42Jennifer Johnson: Over time, with the right support and feedback, those five people are just going to get better and better every single time.
- 6:51Jennifer Johnson: Some of them might even surpass what you originally could do.
- 6:56Jennifer Johnson: The key is to stop measuring your value by how much you personally produce and start measuring it by how much you're enabling others to do.
- 7:04Jennifer Johnson: It's not about being lazy or disengaged, it's about becoming strategic, about where you apply your unique skills and your knowledge.
- 7:12Jennifer Johnson: Now I want to get practical with you for a second.
- 7:14Jennifer Johnson: How do you actually do the work of delegating effectively?
- 7:18Jennifer Johnson: I've developed a little bit of a framework that I call the clear method, and it's transformed how I think about handing off responsibility.
- 7:25Jennifer Johnson: So starting with C, C for clarity.
- 7:28Jennifer Johnson: Before you delegate anything, you need to be crystal clear about what success looks like.
- 7:33Jennifer Johnson: Don't just say, oh, handle the Smith account.
- 7:36Jennifer Johnson: Instead, say maintain weekly communication with the Smith account.
- 7:41Jennifer Johnson: Keep the project timeline updated in our system and escalate any budget concerns over$500 to me immediately.
- 7:47Jennifer Johnson: The more specific you are about your outcomes and your boundaries, the more confident not only you are going to feel, the team members are going to feel as well.
- 7:59Jennifer Johnson: L is for link.
- 8:00Jennifer Johnson: Connect with the task to a bigger picture.
- 8:03Jennifer Johnson: Help your team understand not just what they're doing, but why it matters.
- 8:07Jennifer Johnson: Everybody wants to understand the why.
- 8:09Jennifer Johnson: When someone understands how their work contributes to larger goals, they're going to make better decisions.
- 8:15Jennifer Johnson: They're going to take ownership.
- 8:16Jennifer Johnson: And instead of just assigning tasks, you're inviting them to be part of the mission.
- 8:23Jennifer Johnson: Then we have E.
- 8:25Jennifer Johnson: E is free quip.
- 8:26Jennifer Johnson: Make sure that they have everything they need to succeed.
- 8:29Jennifer Johnson: It's not just about the resources and tools, because yes, those matter, but it's also about the knowledge, the authority, the access.
- 8:37Jennifer Johnson: If someone needs to make decisions, make sure that they have the authority or autonomy to make them.
- 8:45Jennifer Johnson: And if they need information from other departments, make sure that they have access to it.
- 8:49Jennifer Johnson: Please set your team up for success.
- 8:53Jennifer Johnson: Don't set them up for struggle.
- 8:55Jennifer Johnson: Then we have A.
- 8:56Jennifer Johnson: A is for agree.
- 8:58Jennifer Johnson: This is where you establish checkpoints and communication protocols.
- 9:02Jennifer Johnson: How often are you going to check in?
- 9:04Jennifer Johnson: What warrants an immediate conversation versus something that you talk about weekly?
- 9:09Jennifer Johnson: And when is your re when is your review of this work going to happen?
- 9:13Jennifer Johnson: It all goes back to it's not about micromanaging, it's about creating a safety net that allows both of you to feel confident about the arrangement that you've made.
- 11:50Jennifer Johnson: And then finally, R is for recognize.
- 11:52Jennifer Johnson: Acknowledge that both efforts, the efforts and the results.
- 11:56Jennifer Johnson: When someone takes on a delegated responsibility and does it really well, make sure that they know you've noticed.
- 12:03Jennifer Johnson: It's not about being nice, but it's about reinforcing behaviors that you want to see more of.
- 12:09Jennifer Johnson: And recognition is really what transforms that delegation from a one-time transaction into something that you can sustain over time with many different areas of your business.
- 12:22Jennifer Johnson: Now, even with a good framework, there's good, there's some pitfalls that can derail your delegation efforts.
- 12:27Jennifer Johnson: We've all had it.
- 12:29Jennifer Johnson: I'm going to share with you of uh the ones that I see the most.
- 12:31Jennifer Johnson: And the first is what I call the boomerang delegation.
- 12:35Jennifer Johnson: This is when I just love it.
- 12:37Jennifer Johnson: You you delegate something, but then you keep taking it back.
- 12:41Jennifer Johnson: Maybe they ask a question and instead of coaching them through it, you're just like, oh, never mind, I'll handle it.
- 12:47Jennifer Johnson: But maybe they do it slightly different than you would have done it, and then you redo it.
- 12:53Jennifer Johnson: But every time you keep doing this and you keep what I say meddling, you're sending them a message that you don't trust them to handle it.
- 13:01Jennifer Johnson: And that's not fair to you, and it's not especially not fair to the team member that you delegated it to.
- 13:07Jennifer Johnson: So please try to stay away from boomerang delegation.
- 13:11Jennifer Johnson: I've done it myself, and I know that it's not fair.
- 13:14Jennifer Johnson: The second mistake is delegating the task, but not the authority.
- 13:18Jennifer Johnson: So you ask somebody to manage a project, but then you require them to get your approval on everything.
- 13:24Jennifer Johnson: It doesn't matter how big or how small.
- 13:29Jennifer Johnson: You want them to handle a client relationship, but you don't give them the authority to make any uh concessions, or you don't allow them to solve any of the problems without actually talking to a first.
- 13:38Jennifer Johnson: And again, that comes down to frustration.
- 13:41Jennifer Johnson: And it defeats the purpose of what frustration really is supposed to be about.
- 13:46Jennifer Johnson: And the third is delegation without development.
- 13:50Jennifer Johnson: You hand tasks off, but you don't invest in helping the people actually grow into them.
- 13:55Jennifer Johnson: Remember that delegation is a skill that your team members need to develop, just like anything else.
- 14:01Jennifer Johnson: They need feedback, they need coaching and opportunities to reflect on what is working and what is not, because ultimately that's what's going to help them grow.
- 14:10Jennifer Johnson: When you get delegation right, something magical happens.
- 14:13Jennifer Johnson: It creates what I call the compound effect of productivity.
- 14:16Jennifer Johnson: Each person that you successfully delegate becomes someone who can handle more complex responsibilities.
- 14:22Jennifer Johnson: They develop judgment skills and confidence, and over time they become people that you can delegate even bigger and more important things to.
- 14:30Jennifer Johnson: I've seen this play out in my own career.
- 14:33Jennifer Johnson: Team members I invested in early on are the ones that, and I the ones that I've took time to actually train properly and give authority to and supported me through my learning curve and me through theirs, those are the people who now run entire parts of my business.
- 14:50Jennifer Johnson: They're not just executing tasks, they're they're making strategic decisions and developing their own teams and creating value that I could never have created on my own.
- 15:00Jennifer Johnson: And they're taking what I taught them and they're teaching other people.
- 15:05Jennifer Johnson: And here's the really powerful part when you delegate effectively, you're not just freeing up your time, you're creating opportunities for other people to grow and to contribute at higher levels and to develop their own careers.
- 15:19Jennifer Johnson: You're becoming the kind of leader that people want to work for.
- 15:24Jennifer Johnson: Someone who invests their development rather than just investing their time in someone.
- 15:31Jennifer Johnson: So if you're ready to start delegating more effectively, here's how I'm gonna suggest you begin.
- 15:36Jennifer Johnson: Start small and start with the right people.
- 15:40Jennifer Johnson: Look for somebody on your team who's shown good judgment, and maybe they ask really thoughtful questions or they seem eager to take on more responsibilities.
- 15:49Jennifer Johnson: Don't start with your most critical task, but start something that's gonna challenge them, but not ones that are really, really critical.
- 15:59Jennifer Johnson: And choose something that happens regularly, like a weekly report or a routine check-in with a client, maybe a standard process that you've been handling.
- 16:07Jennifer Johnson: And use the clear framework to delegate it properly.
- 16:10Jennifer Johnson: Be patient, though, during that learning curve because you need to resist that urge to boomerang it and to take it back.
- 16:19Jennifer Johnson: Track your time for the week before you start delegating and then track it again a month later.
- 16:23Jennifer Johnson: This is the fun part.
- 16:24Jennifer Johnson: You're gonna be amazed at how much mental space that you've created when you're not constantly switching from one strategic thinking thing to a tactical execution and you're kind of doing it all.
- 16:35Jennifer Johnson: But most importantly, remember that delegation is a skill and you're developing too.
- 16:40Jennifer Johnson: You're gonna make mistakes.
- 16:41Jennifer Johnson: You're going to delegate the wrong things to the wrong people at the wrong time.
- 16:45Jennifer Johnson: And that's okay.
- 16:46Jennifer Johnson: It's part of the learning process.
- 16:48Jennifer Johnson: The key is to treat each delegation as an experiment and learn from what works and what doesn't and keep refining that approach.
- 16:58Jennifer Johnson: So as we wrap up, I want to leave you with this thought.
- 17:00Jennifer Johnson: Your highest contribution isn't doing the work, it's multiplying the work that gets done.
- 17:06Jennifer Johnson: When you delegate effectively, you're not just being more productive, you're being more strategic about where you apply your unique value.
- 17:13Jennifer Johnson: The transition from doing everything yourself to leading it through others isn't always easy, but it's absolutely essential if you want to create impact at scale.
- 17:23Jennifer Johnson: It requires you to let go of short-term satisfaction of completing all of those tasks and being that little vacuum cleaner that picks everything up in favor of long-term satisfaction of building something that's bigger than what you could possibly create alone.
- 17:38Jennifer Johnson: Remember that delegation isn't about finding people to dump work on.
- 17:41Jennifer Johnson: It's about finding people to invest in and about creating systems that work without you so you can focus on the work that you can own, that you can do, and that you're really good at and that you enjoy.
- 17:51Jennifer Johnson: It's about becoming the kind of leader who doesn't just get things done, but helps other people become the best versions of themselves.
- 18:00Jennifer Johnson: So your challenge this week is identifying one task that you're currently doing that somebody else could handle.
- 18:07Jennifer Johnson: Apply that clear framework, take the time to delegate it properly, and then please resist the urge to take it back.
- 18:14Jennifer Johnson: Don't boomerang it when it's not done exactly how you would have done it.
- 18:19Jennifer Johnson: You need to trust the process, trust your team, and trust that by letting go of control, you're actually gaining something much more valuable the ability to create impact at a scale.
- 18:30Jennifer Johnson: And that's only possible when you're not trying to do it all by yourself.