Not being able to enjoy what you have accomplished is a symptom of burnout and it can be fatal to your career. But being as good as you are it can be hard to delegate.
For truly success-driven leaders, there may never be a cure for the relentless pursuit of perfection. But for those who are willing to take a moment to reflect on what they might do differently, there is a cure: Shift your focus from your own success to your team's success. Here's how.
Lead, don't manage. Management is a discipline that must buttress every successful organization; things must be accomplished with people, resources, schedules and budgets. At the same time, the top person must not be involved in all these details. He or she must lead, but empower others to manage.
Enable others. Successful people are good at what they do; that is why they have a tough time handing off to others. Type A managers never let up; they revel in micro-management. Sadly, they drive good people away — and as a result, they must do more and more. But savvy leaders learn to break this cycle. Step back and let others manage not just the details, but also the decisions.
Take joy in others' success. Achieving personal success lies at the heart of ambition. But for a leader, personal success isn't really possible unless the whole team wins. When your team achieves an important goal, celebrate! Take personal satisfaction from seeing the people you have recruited and groomed succeed. Such personal satisfaction is important to keep your team feeling appreciated, but also to enrich your own life.
There is one more thing that leaders who aspire to delegate more must do: drop the invincibility act. And this one is tough. When you do so much well, it can be tempting to think you do everything well. Trust me; many successful people I know truly believe they are good at everything. Acknowledging limitations may be easy for mere mortals to do, but it is hard for executives who have either built a company or risen to the top of a large organization.
High-achieving people may intellectually understand the need for change, but still struggle to grasp it emotionally. For some, it will require a significant intervention, one that takes the form of a crisis to their health, marriage, family or career. There are many executives who have stepped back from the brink of striving to achieve goals at all costs and learned that leadership is not a solo act.
Leaders are those who have the self-discipline to understand their own limitations. For super achievers, this recognition is hard to swallow. The revelation comes when you understand how much you can achieve through others rather than by yourself. Accepting this can relieve stress, help you avoid burnout, and even result in better relationships with family and friends. And, curiously, when you delegate responsibility and authority to others so that the whole team wins, it has a way of leading to even greater success.
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