What is the big difference between leveraging and delegating? Essentially, one ensures your success and the other leaves it up to chance.
Effective leaders know they can’t do everything well, so they direct someone just as smart or smarter to do it for them. They key word here is direct. When managers and leaders delegate, they simply hand off a task without much thought, hoping against hope the person knows what they are doing and everything works out.
Maintain Responsibility
The key to leveraging is that you hand things off to someone else, but you either train them or give detailed instructions (or both) with a clear measure of success. Whether or not the project, report, or business fails is ultimately up to you and your leadership.
You leverage (not delegate) the work by checking in and solving any issues quickly as they arise; and take responsibility for the outcome.
Play to your skills, let others play to theirs
What do you do incredibly well? If you are better in person and incredible at networking but lack the organization to reach out everyone you’ve met? Then hire an assistant to send follow up emails and set meetings for you. Are you great at winning projects but can’t keep up with email? Have someone sift through your emails for you. The key is to create systems for the things that don’t require much creativity but do require attention to detail.
Seeing the big picture got you where you are but the little details of life will never go away. Have someone who is much better at detail oriented work take over with your clear guidance.
When you leverage well, you leave yourself room to be even better at what you do best. Setting up these systems takes time, but once they are in place they will automate your life and the success of your projects.
Which leaders have leveraged their way to success? Find out here.
