You can’t delegate this one

Text and photo: Brian OliverSmith

In this article, I want to share a story and how you can grow as a leader, and at the end of the article, I will share five of my tips on how to grow results.

Table of content: 

• Planning for Mickey Mouse
• What makes a good leader? 
• What can you learn from me? 
• How do I know this works? 
• Five tips I have assembled over 30 years.

Good leaders Learn How to Delegate…You can NEVER Delegate this one!

Background and story
 

I remember her puzzled look.

“What do you mean you don’t care? Wow, this is going to be a great vacation.,” my wife said. “No, no. I don’t mean I don’t care." I said, trying to clear up my mess.

"I do.

It will be a blast with the girls, and I’m looking forward to the rides and shows and Princess castles. I don’t care whether we do Disney first or Epcot and if we put the water park in the middle or head straight to Harry Potter World." Ok, even that isn’t true, 

"I think we should do the water park in the middle and really, Epcot is old, and the girls are too young. See, I do care. I meant that I want a break, which means a break from planning."   

"I know that doesn’t make sense, but I don’t want to be the “CEO” on our vacation.

I’m happy to give feedback.”

“Ok, now that makes sense,” she said.  “Is it okay if I bounce ideas off you”?

“Of course, and why don’t we hire your friend, who was a private tour guide at Disney for five years, to help us design and maximize the time there?”

Well, we did.

We hired Jen to help us craft the perfect vacation and beat the lines, and I can’t believe how much we saw in 5 days at the insane Orlando parks. 

Whew, I dodged that bullet.

But the reality is in the statement above. I DON’T WANT TO BE THE CEO on vacation or at the PTA or in our poker club, etc.

That is because strong leaders realize they don’t get to delegate their planning around their own time or company priorities. Believe me, and I’ve tried.

Oh, you can and should use productivity apps, like Calendy or Evernote or all the others, but your time sets your priorities based upon the company needs and your values, and that is near impossible to delegate out.

My assistant, Marcela, knew everything about my planning and priorities and helped me schedule and would have had to give me permission to have an affair since she had access to all of my emails, schedule, and data.  But she didn’t do my planning.  She helped implement it.

What makes a good Leader? 
 

Good Leaders are strong and consistent planners!

Somehow, they have learned the Art and Science of prioritizing their time and, thus, their lives. 

I’m going to do an entire mini-course on planning for our clientss but let me give you a brief preview of some of the ideas I will share.

Oh, and here’s just a brief, “why should we listen to you on this one, Brian?” 

What can you learn from me?

I learned my planning strategy and techniques from the master, Steven Covey, of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective people when I was an early trainer for Steven on the 7 Habits. I have used the system I learned and modified from Steven effectively and efficiently for over 30 years.

How do I know that this works? 

In fact, if you wanted to ask me what I was doing in the week of May 12, 2012, or January 18, 1998, I could go to my bookshelf and pull down the planning book from that quarter and tell you what my schedule and planning had on it based on my planning book.

I can go back and tell you what I was doing the very first week of my last company and what priorities I had the week of my daughter's birth, which I was there for all of them.

Five tips I have assembled over 30 years.

Ironically, your planning both sets and reflects the priorities in your life.

As a Leader, you must plan your personal and professional/company priorities simultaneously and in the same location. 

Too many talented leaders use their strong Executive Function and planning abilities in service to their company but leave out their personal priorities and scheduling in their planning. 

This results in weak personal relationships, diminished enjoyment of your rewards, and 7 years old  crying because they don’t understand that board meetings are more important than the dance recital they worked on for 3 months…and really, is it?

If you are a Leader then you are a Leader for life, and you don’t get to be a leader at the office and not at home. Nope, it won’t work.

1. Plan to do your planning by writing it down

Not typing it into some data program. Trust me on this one. I’ve tried everything. Write it down. 

It causes a different level of engagement and thinking, kind of like the Leaders version of the Morning Pages from the Artist’s Way. It helps lock items into your subconscious; I often barely need to refer to my planning during the week.  It is as much reflection as planning.

And when you need to save it or share it with anyone or digitize it, you simply take a picture of your book to save or share in Evernote or wherever you like. 

See both analog and digital in one session.

2. Using notebooks
Get a notebook that goes with you everywhere for your planning, and I mean everywhere. Leaders don’t have the luxury of setting aside one area of life for another. That’s why we became leaders for some say and freedom. 

Well, that freedom comes with insane responsibility, and you may need to answer an investor's question from your planning or notebook while camping.

That’s the game, team. My girls can grab my planning book from my bag or wherever I ask because they have grown up with it as part of my life.

3. Make Your planning a habit 
Not a habit, like eating your vegetables but a habit, like, I get to enjoy new movies on Friday. I plan every Sunday, and if somehow I miss it, I’m a mess on Monday and a complete disaster on Tuesday. I love the expression, the first half of your life, and you make your habits. In the second half of life, your habits make you. After 30 years, I can say it's true!

4. Put it all in there based on roles and goals

I mean all of it. My relationships and what I want to accomplish for my daughters and priorities, my friends and family, my organizational needs, my personal needs, my work priorities, and my company priorities. All of it. You only have 24/7 like everyone; what determines what you accomplish in life is based on your time.

5. Put your calendar in Google or Microsoft, or Calendly

Planning is not your calendar or appointments; they are simply part of your week, not all if we need to talk.

Okay, this is quickly becoming a mini-course in itself, and I didn’t plan for that.  So get started a bit with some of those tips and be on the lookout for the mini-course on planning coming soon. 

I’m trying to wrap this up with some witty phrases, but all that comes to mind is, “you can’t plan to be successful unless you successfully plan.” (hey, I just made that up, I think, so I plan to use it.) Plan to have an amazing year with us.

Brian