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.
- Asa Rodriguez - 