Have you been in a situation at work that you are unsure of what to do? I am sure that this has happened to you in your career at some point along the way. It is a vulnerable place to be as a leader feeling like you should have all the answers. Although you are in the leadership role for what you know and what you can get done, it is just not possible for you to know everything. I will tell you why this is the best thing that can happen to you.
Letting go of decision making is not easy and one of the toughest transitions to make as a leader. However, following this model will make you much more successful. You will be able to focus on overseeing the organization and concurrently growing the skills of your team to be future leaders. In addition to some other great advice, I really liked one of the quotes in this article What to do when you don’t know what to do by Lolly Daskal. She said that you should “Lead from Within: What you don’t know today will be something you can learn from tomorrow.” Take a risk and make bold moves with your team. There are leadership lessons to learn every single day if you try new things and take the time to reflect on the outcomes.
Leverage your team and ask them what they think about the problem at hand when you aren’t sure what to do. This is an opportunity for them to develop their skills at problem solving and decision making. What ideas do they have for solving the problem? How could they work together to come up with a solution? This will give the team the empowerment to make recommendations and feel ownership for them. Although it is an uneasy feeling to give up the control of making the decisions, it is the best thing that a leader can do for a team. It gives the team the opportunity to grow, but it also gives the leader the opportunity to learn how to let go of control and accomplish more as a team.
Are you in this situation in your career? One of the pieces of advice in this article is to invest in yourself and hire a coach. This one step can transform your leadership and allow you to accomplish extraordinary things! Here is the link to set up time with me for a complimentary session: http://susanmbarber.com/schedule-an-appointment/
