Delegate and Elevate: Mastering the Art of Efficient Leadership

The concept of Delegate and Elevate has gained significant traction in recent years. Utilizing this approach empowers leaders by enabling them to effectively delegate tasks to their teams so that they have time and mental bandwidth to focus on higher-value activities that drive their organizations forward.

As a Visionary leader, the notion of doing it all can be overwhelming, yet completely relinquishing control can also feel risky. That’s where the Delegate and Elevate™ strategy comes into play by addressing this concern and creating an effective balance.

What Is Delegate and Elevate™?

Delegate and Elevate™ is a leadership strategy that involves distributing tasks or responsibilities to others, enabling leaders to prioritize tasks aligning with their unique abilities and passions. It’s built on the understanding that leaders excel when they can dedicate their focus to tasks they excel at and enjoy while delegating the rest to capable team members.

Why Should Visionaries and their Leadership Team Adopt The Delegate and Elevate™ Strategy? 

There are several compelling reasons for Visionaries to implement Delegate and Elevate™ in their leadership strategy:

• Improved Productivity: By assigning tasks that align with the skills and interests of team members, Visionaries can optimize their productivity, allowing them to concentrate on strategic, big-picture tasks.
• Personal Growth: Delegation enables Visionaries to focus on tasks they excel at, which increases job satisfaction and promotes personal development.
• Team Development: Delegation provides team members with opportunities to acquire new skills and tackle complex tasks, fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth.

What Should You Delegate?

Making the most of the Delegate and Elevate™ strategy involves understanding how to categorize and prioritize tasks effectively. This is where the Delegate and Elevate™ quadrants come in. This simple yet powerful tool allows you to visually categorize your tasks into quadrants based on your enjoyment and proficiency. Let’s take a closer look.

Delegate and Elevate™ Quadrants

As you can see, the Delegate and Elevate methodology uses four quadrants to help you categorize your tasks so you can better decide which ones to delegate. The four quadrants, as seen above, include:

Quadrant 1: Love it, Great at it – Tasks you excel at and enjoy.

Quadrant 2: Like it, Good at it – Tasks you enjoy doing but aren’t proficient in.

Quadrant 3: Don’t Enjoy it, Good at it – Tasks you’re skilled at but don’t enjoy.

Quadrant 4: Don’t Enjoy it, Not Good at it – Tasks you don’t excel at and don’t enjoy doing.

After identifying which quadrant your tasks fall into, the next step involves strategic task management and delegation. This means deciding which tasks should command your focus, which ones you should delegate, and which ones you might want to eliminate entirely. Here’s a guideline to help you make those crucial decisions:

Quadrant 1: Love it, Great at it

Action: Concentrate on these tasks. They’re in your area of expertise and passion, providing maximum impact and stimulating your growth.

Quadrant 2: Like it, Good at it

Action: Reflect on these tasks. You could continue doing them if they align with your role, delegate them to free up your time or invest in further developing your skills.

Quadrant 3: Don’t Enjoy it, Good at it

Action: Aim to delegate these tasks. While you’re capable of doing them, they’re not enjoyable to you, and there’s likely someone on your team who could perform them with more enthusiasm.

Quadrant 4: Don’t Enjoy it, Not Good at it

Action: Always delegate these tasks. They’re not in your wheelhouse and can distract you from focusing on what truly matters. If these tasks are redundant or unnecessary, consider eliminating them altogether.

Navigating Common Issues in Implementing Delegate and Elevate™

A common problem when implementing Delegate and Elevate™ (D&E) is that many Visionaries and their leadership teams think they can handle their workload alone. Additionally, they may have concerns that tasks assigned to others may not be completed to their liking.

But, one of the most common issues that occurs is due to a failure to plan ahead. Many Visionaries and leaders simply don’t delegate because they haven’t included upcoming tasks or current projects in their planning process. This lack of foresight often results in these tasks falling back on them at the last minute as they don’t have sufficient time to provide directions to another team member or wait for their completion.

Implementing Delegate and Elevate™ Begins at the Top

In my experience of assisting Visionaries and their leadership teams, a recurring challenge I observe is achieving a healthy equilibrium between professional duties and personal life. This balance is an elusive yet vital aspect that leaders often grapple with.

For this reason, my initial focus when working with a new client is to ensure the Delegate and Elevate™ strategy is implemented within the leadership team first. Effective management and work-life harmony are primarily influenced by leadership practices. If the leaders are struggling with workload and balance, this issue is likely to ripple down to their teams as well.

To ensure that Delegate and Elevate™ is implemented successfully, Leaders can embark on this transformative journey by taking the following three essential steps:

Define Your 100%

Establishing the optimum number of weekly work hours that align with your desire for balance is a crucial starting point. The Visionary and leadership team should clearly understand their 100% capacity to pave the way for sustainable progress.

Determine Your Capacity

Identifying the proportion of your 100% capacity that’s needed to fulfill your role efficiently is often a complex task for teams. Teams are often in reactive mode, dealing with tasks as they appear rather than planning strategically, which can obscure proper capacity understanding.

Clarify Your Responsibilities

It may seem straightforward, but comprehensively listing all tasks and responsibilities associated with your role can be a complicated exercise. Teams often overlook the nuanced differences between broader categories like HR and Project Management and their subset tasks. For example, HR can encompass enjoyable tasks like interviewing candidates and tedious ones like researching market values for jobs. Recognizing these details and delegating appropriately is a crucial part of this step

How Can an Integrator™ Help You Delegate and Elevate™?

For companies already running on EOS®, the EOS Implementer™ introduces and trains the team on the Delegate & Elevate tool. But as an Integrator™, I drive the tool through the organization.

There’s always a steep learning curve when implementing new tools, especially when it comes to business practices and how people are managed. My expertise is ensuring that everyone actively uses the tool and effectively delegates tasks throughout the organization. This is where I thrive.

The companies I partner with have seen astounding results because I bake in the practice with the leadership teams first and then cascade down the organization. It’s one thing to introduce a new tool, explain how it works, and then say, “My job here is done.”  But, it’s an entirely different thing to integrate the tool through each level of a company and see it completely change an organization for the better.

If you’ve been looking for a Fractional Integrator™ to help you propel your business to the next level, schedule a call with me to see if you’re ready.