One of the keys to a successful music career is learning the art of delegation.
It’s simple: the more ways you can find to delegate routine tasks, the more free time you have to work on the development of your career.
From working with clients as they learned this valuable skill to my own work of learning to delegate over many years, I’ve noticed two key stumbling blocks:
- Letting go of control
- Finding the time to delegate
But first….
A Story About Clinging Onto Control
We all love control. But being overly controlling can cause more problems than it solves.
A few weeks ago, I was carpooling to an event with a friend. It is rare I have time in my schedule, and the tickets were hard to get so…I was excited!
Except for one thing. This friend who I was attending with is “that” friend who is always late.
So we set a plan – and the plan was to meet early in the morning to drive an hour and a half to this event.
As my pickup time got closer, I started to get nervous. I had my phone in my hand. I was waiting for him to arrive.
And sure enough, five minutes after he was supposed to pick me up, he calls me and he says, “I’m really sorry. I just left home.”
Instead of sitting with the discomfort of possibly being late, my need to control kicked in. I decided I could just drive myself! So, I ran to get my car and manically drove for an hour to the venue to find that my friend and I arrived at the same exact time – 30 minutes early.
Then I realized….
In my earlier flurry, I took the car that my husband needed to make it to work – and now it was 70 miles away from where he needed it to be.
I had just really screwed up. I caused all of these problems and made my day more difficult and less fun because I was just so wrapped up in controlling the situation.
You can create so many problems by holding on tightly to something
If you’re holding on tightly to control things, you are not necessarily being effective.
Clinging onto control can make it really hard to see things clearly and to solve problems.
This is the key to learning to delegate – letting other people share the load of work and help you develop your dreams….
Delegating means Learning to Let Go
You can develop your awareness of when you are holding on to too much control.
Ask these questions –
- What can I let go?
- Where can I loosen my grip to let someone else help?
Look at everything you’re taking on in your personal life and career and ask:
- What do I need to have direct oversight over?
- What could someone else handle and oversee?
Finding the Time to Delegate
It’s an irony of the overscheduled that they struggle to find the time to delegate because…
Delegation takes planning.
You can’t delegate at the moment things get to be too much because you can’t delegate effectively without training the other party involved.
There’s a lot of information and clarity they need. Sometimes they need to try things out first before they take over.
So many people don’t delegate because they wait until they’re up to their ears and there’s no time to get someone else on board.
Delegation without Training is a Recipe for Failure
Has this happened to you? You’re working on a time sensitive project. You’re totally overscheduled and trying to do too much.
Someone jumps in to help but you don’t have time to give them clear instructions on what they need to do. It turns into a disaster and you think – I should have just done this myself.
We conclude that delegation doesn’t work when the problem was not preparing to delegate.
Plan Ahead to Delegate
Put time into the schedule for training, for trial runs, and for asking questions.
Because once you’re in the thick of things, it’s too late to delegate.
Getting Delegation to Work for You
- Decide to Let Go.
- Look for places in your life where tasks can be delegated.
- Schedule time to train.
- Have more time and be more effective in your life and career!
