I was listening to a podcast on a bike ride recently with one particular aspect being highlighted. For managers and leaders, it is to find your second in command that you can trust, rely on, and know who will fully address concerns and issues when you’re unavailable.
As I’ve reflected on the times I’ve been out of the office, on vacation, or in a meeting, I’ve been confident that everything is being handled super well — I can’t stress how important and assuring it is to have mine (the ironic part is that this person is currently out on vacation!).
If you don’t have someone you can trust to hand over the reins for an hour, a day, a month…, then I seriously recommend reconsidering the setup and see what changes could be made. If you work by yourself (and, possibly, for yourself), look into automating systems so that you can step out for a day or a week to catch a breather.
If you can, then find ways to delegate and entrust more to your second. It may be a challenge for many of us, but it’s a great learning experience both ways. They get to learn more about our job (as leaders) and we get to learn how we can better let go, share the reins, or see the holes and gaps in our leadership (and hopefully improve).
Even if you never step out for a period of time, the mere fact of knowing you can relieves a massive burden of stress. This brings acute clarity and enables us to focus on so much more.
Originally published at www.jeffreybeaumont.com.
Jeff Beaumont 