Need more time? Let Go and Trust Others
Time pressure and overwhelm. This is the reality that many leaders tell me is standing in the way of meeting competing demands including more actively practicing Loving Leadership.
They are struggling with time. Maybe you are too.
Such time pressures have multiple root causes; I'm exploring different solutions one by one.
Last time perfectionism was the culprit sucking up our time. The solution? Aim for Good Enough. If you missed it last week, check out that message captured on the blog and discover the importance of not over-performing to free up time.
Next up today for the Loving Leader struggling with time because there's too much on their plate?
Let go and trust others to take on some of the load.
And, here's the beauty of this strategy. It can be a win-win. You get relief from your overwhelm, and your team members experience love at work through the strategy itself. Here's what I mean:
Learning is love: People given a new responsibility have the chance to learn and grow. Consistently in my research, people tell me they feel loved when they are given the opportunity to develop.
Trust is love: People will feel trusted when you let them take on a challenge. This trust is another loving experience, named repeatedly in my research interviews and workshops.
Welcoming differences is love: New people with different life experiences and views bring the possibility of fresh approaches and innovations. Allowing others to own responsibility and guide how something is done creates belonging.
Helping is love: Most people want to help. Undoubtedly, they watch you struggle and wish they could do something. So let them. Give them the chance and they will, and then they will enjoy the satisfaction of helping you too.
Contributing is love: People support what they help create. The benefits of releasing and entrusting include pride, loyalty, and retention.
You may have to work hard to do this at first. Afterall, it's easy to slide right into just doing something yourself. I almost did this today. I was meeting with a team member, talking through the week's projects. I named a task and started to say that I'd just do it. But by the end of the call, I released the task to her with the rest of the project. Which means I'm writing to you now instead!
So Loving Leader, let go and trust others. And you'll find you have more time and less stress along with love flowing to your team in new ways.
