This is
PART 4 of a short series of blogs on
Mastermind Leadership from a book I am writing, titled:
“Inner Wealth. Outer Wealth.,” which deals with the spiritual, mental, and physical processes of all success achievement in life.
–Earlier, or in yesterday’s blog, I talked about a little bit about
persistence in the mastermind as the greatest organizational tool of the
true and wise leader.
I mentioned, among many other things, that
no
real man achieves great success in any function by giving in
to stress and fear, or by letting life’s challenges and
seeming setbacks belittle him and his efforts; however, you
need to incorporate into your very biology this universal law
right now, that the harder the challenges presented in your
life, the more you will receive from the universe in terms
of success if you remain strong and resilient throughout those
hard challenges.
Now a little
about delegating, its importance in all growth, and its extreme organization.
And in regards to the collective mastermind,
most people believe that as leaders or creative individuals to
their own vision theirs should always be the responsibilities
to do everything, the grand ideas and moves of the business
should be their doing, that they should not trust others as
much; however, one mind cannot cover all fields of knowledge
and expertise, one mind cannot see all the concealed details
for advancement needed in the bumpy road to success, and so
full trust on others is paramount here.
Delegating
is a strength only the true and powerful leader knows and
uses to his advantage, and so delegating means a calm and
ordered state of mind which is free of fear and anxiety.
This takes some of the pressure off the leader and
balances life and work for him; therefore, balance is the key
to the door to all success and bliss, balance brings peace
and clear-headedness to any undertaking.
Like Buddha said, “Follow the Middle-Way.” Find your balance between two extremes in life.
Delegating as the most important skill of the leader in life and in business.
“Don’t be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a
decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force
responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure
and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.” ~ Donald Rumsfeld; American politician and businessman.
As a top manager and wise leader, delegation should claim
its rightful center stage in the energies of your
consciousness, and should be allowed to penetrate your very
cellular composition, and thus become your persona in the way
you run things.
Good delegation is a
priority of organization, without a doubt, because delegating
means dissecting problems or studying the field to develop
further and so trusting the right people to be of value to
you and to themselves. Good delegation saves time and
energy, it adds dynamic growth to your business venture, it
motivates people and expands their horizons of the undertaking,
allows issues or process problems to be detected with
competency and rapidity, it brings focus and experience to
people, and it builds and boosts great management assets
around you—i.e., makes wise leaders out of the people who
work with you.
But, you must have in mind this also, poor delegation will
bring much frustration and stress to you and to your
venture, it will make the other person feel confused and
depressed, it will create tension and emotional distance in
the work atmosphere, it will certainly stunt all growth,
and it might design an attraction vortex to more poor choices.
This
last one is extremely important, and quite often ignored by
many unwise entrepreneurs, perhaps because it is the opposite
of success attraction; therefore, good choices and good
delegation attract success, and poor choices and poor
delegation attract disappointments. History is full of
many stories of great and intelligent people, and even of
great empires, who lost everything they had built because of
poor delegation skills.
Still, delegating, when it comes to true organizational
skills in the leader, cannot be detached or indifferent from
the professional mastermind because it creates forward growth
and unites people, and that is exactly what professional
business development, and even life in general, is all about,
the unity of people and the advocacy of coming together for
a greater purpose.
Following, I bring you some
suggestions to have in mind when making use of the powers
of delegation in your own mastermind:
1) Cultivate patience:
When delegating and trusting people you must remain calm and
stress free, guide your thoughts of anxiety toward some other
task, let the process of delegation work, simply accept that
you are sharpening your leadership and strengthening your
business venture by letting the other person be part of that
growth.
When you do this is also
important that you have in mind that no one works the same
way, with the same ideas and strengths, so be supportive and
let people around you flourish and claim their own value and,
most importantly, at their own time.
2) Know your people:
Get to know people beforehand and connect at a professional
level which can you give you insight into their individual
strengths and professional skills, because in the good and
wise leader falls the responsibility of delegating to the
right people.
Qualifications beyond
just emotional attachment are paramount in a work atmosphere,
or in any life venture where you have a serious purpose.
Furthermore, you do not get the best people for the task
being delegated just for the sake of the task itself, but
mainly because the person you are trusting with the task will
develop himself or herself further and grow emotionally if
that person possesses the right qualifications to do a good
job. As a leader, think always in terms of people
growth and the rest will grow by itself; if the people
expands intellectually and emotionally, so will the business
venture.
3) Be proactive, not lazy: The process of delegation is about intelligent organization and creative leadership, and not about
overwhelming
people with the tasks you do not like; therefore, you
delegate masterfully by being organized and professional while
having in mind the right procedures for growth regarding
people’s unique strengths.
You must
claim wisdom in this, not only due to the ambition for
business expansion you might have, but because people around
you can sense your lack of proclivity in your own work, thus
you will lose leadership by being disorganized and by forcing
most of the tasks on them.
4) Know in your mind precisely why you are delegating:
This is the basic understanding of the serious and committed
leader, because there is no real leadership without
understanding of the processes of your business or tasks;
however, this is a slow process, I know, and you cannot
figure out everything by yourself, but this is why you study
everything in detail, the ins and outs of your business
venture, and also this is why you have partnered with
individuals with different skills.
Each member of the partnership or mastermind alliance should
understand what the other does, for this creates great
strength and connection in the group, just like a pack of
wolves or coyotes each has a definite task in the group and
respects each other’s roles.
And, of course, it goes
without saying that, also when delegating, you as the leader
must always explain why you are delegating to whomever you
are delegating; thus, you show and increase leadership skills,
and you pass your vision and mentally prepare people further
for the task at hand. Unity and connection is all. Harmony
in the business orchestra is all.
5) Inquire and give feedback: While
you let the person work on his/her assignment, make sure you
touch base once in a while during the process, not to hurry
the person or to invade the process itself, but to
demonstrate your support and interest and also offer your
opinions or feedback without demanding or controlling the
situation.
This brings an atmosphere
of honest collaboration and forthcoming dedication to the same
goal, and it, too, communicates to the group a dynamic and
close unity. Using welcoming ideas and opinions while boosting
morale goes a long way when it comes to the professional
atmosphere, and, of course, always appreciate the efforts of
somebody else.
The one thing in common which people
searches in anything they do, consciously or subconsciously, is
to feel of value themselves, to feel important; whether is
about starting a business or starting a family, they crave
the feeling of being somebody and doing something to create
value—so if you find a way to fulfill this human need in
your mastermind, then, connection will grow stronger and you
will reach success.
6) Include people in the process:
Another great idea, natural of the empowering leader, is to
delegate by including people in the process, which means, when
possible, letting each member tell you what they can do and
at what task they can stand out.
The
goal always is to succeed as a group, not to outshine others
as an individual by telling them all the time what to do.
Success is a collective effort which demands group unity and
forethought, and true leadership is the higher system keeping
this harmony operating and away from all ego.
7) Communicate clearly and with focus: This is extremely
important
and basic of leadership, because here you make sure that
your vision and specific need of the assignment or task is
clearly conveyed to your partner or business ally.
Your
mind and heart has to find absolute focus upon the delegated
theme or task, in order for this process to be fruitful and
also become a strong foundation for the whole business
venture; therefore, ensure clear communication, state perfectly
your needs for the project, your mental projections and
expectations, but do it in a gentle and professional manner
thus truly leading and not demanding of the other person or
persons. Give or talk about clear timelines or processing time
and what to expect in reality, engage and connect and allow
people to ask and also have access to all they need to
fulfill the job; consequently, it is very helpful for the
leader, for the person being delegated, and for the very
process itself, to write everything I mentioned down in a
piece of paper or template with guidelines for the project or
goal.
Remember, the more specific and organized you
are, the more connection with people and thus the more
probability of getting the results you need for success.
8) Identify the task portion to delegate:
Sometimes you do not have to delegate the whole task,
perhaps you can manage some duties really well and some
others are not your forte, and that is why you must be
really acquainted with the job at hand and align it with the
right expertise; therefore, give others the value of helping
you and sharing the responsibility through each individual
expertise.
When you delegate a
portion of the task, you have to make sure all the group
parts understand what they specifically have to do on their
respective portions. This is deep sharing which must
work in harmony and unity, and it ought to bring you closer
in communication with all the group parts involved in order
to take the whole task or job to great success.
9) Give credit when due, NEVER blame:
When something goes right or when somebody achieves something,
then is time for the leader to give thanks and credit to
that person in the mastermind group session, in public;
besides being good for the person praised after a good job,
this deepens values in leadership itself and designs vast
connection platforms in which to build stronger partnerships
based on higher morale.
If something
is missing or somebody for some reason does not get the job
done, withhold blame and all negative reactions, do not create
embarrassment in the other person, because stating your
disappointment or anger does not help but it only belittles
the value of people, and it, too, creates anxiety and a
defensive attitude; furthermore, to increase their value and
boost all productivity always think clearly and think emotional
connection, so help in whatever they need, and help in the
dissection of mistakes in a gentle and professional manner in
order to learn from those mistakes and study their specifics.
