I used to work at a job where being too busy was my favorite excuse for not interacting with others. I would eat lunches at my desk to get more done. I would over prepare for meetings to ensure I always had the answer.

I loved the idea of being the most organized. I thought it meant I was the most capable to get everything done no matter the task.

The problem is being good at getting tasks done doesn’t equate to getting ahead. Why? Because I was making one fatal mistake.

I was good at my job, but I wasn’t good at maximizing my resources. I wasted so many hours doing lower level work I should have delegated. But instead, I was a bit obsessed with doing my work my way, instead of doing it the most efficient way.

It is so easy to get caught up in doing things yourself. You believe in your mind it’s easier than training someone else. I used to think that projects just wouldn’t be “right” if I handed off this project or work to others. I was afraid that the work I would get back from my employees would be not up to my standards. I falsely believed I would have to spend so much time having to re-do it all or fix it, that it just wasn’t worth the effort. My need for perfection was toxic.

Trust and Relationship Meltdown

I lacked trust in my team. As a result, I was slowly burning myself out doing work I should have delegated.

How could my team and colleagues learn how to work well with me (or improve their skillsets), if I never gave them the opportunity to learn and/or work with me? And furthermore, do you want a boss who doesn’t trust you to do the work within your skill set and job description?

This way of approaching my team’s workload was going nowhere good fast. My lack of trust became toxic and threatened the relationships I was trying to build in my office. I was working so hard and so many hours, yet I was making very little progress toward the big goals I had set for myself. And, instead of getting ahead, I was severely behind.

My work relationships were not only suffering. My personal ones were too. I wasn’t using my resources well. I would stand my friends up for happy hours, come home late almost every night, leave the housework to my overly-generous husband, and miss out on birthday parties and other celebrations because I was unable to manage any semblance of balance.

I had to beat my own perfectionism, but how?

Squash Your Perfectionism

I started re-thinking my approach to delegation using these strategies:

 (1) Take the 20,000-foot view instead of the blade of grass view.

I understand why the saying, “the devil is in the details” came about. But man, it’s a great excuse for perfectionists to get down in the weeds of details that don’t truly matter. Thus, I try to use my own sense of discernment to decide the following: Is this something that needs a 20,000-foot view or a blade of grass view? A good question to ask yourself is: “Does my organization pay me to be concerned with this level of detail?” I can usually answer positively that they want me to manage my projects to success, but does success ride on such small details? Very rarely.

 (2) Use the Eisenhower Matrix to help you determine if the work ahead of you is the highest and best use of your time.

Have I mentioned yet how much I love the Eisenhower Matrix method of organizing myself? If the project or task is one that is neither urgent or important, it’s safe to delegate it. And I push hard to follow this concept for organizing myself. Why? Because it acclimates me to demonstrating trust in others. Plus, it helps me learn to appreciate the progress and growth of my team is developing.

 (3) Re-evaluate your standards. If the goal is to get to yes, will this get our team there?

In law school, I read Getting to Yes. It focuses on the art of finding the spot where two adverse parties can come to an agreement on what “yes” looks like. In law school we used this book in my mediation and arbitration class. Yet, the book has far greater applications. I’ve started to use it to evaluate whether my standards are fair. I do this by attempting to remove my interests. And I focus my attention on whether or not the given project will get my the project to “a place of mutual gain”. I define mutual gain as meeting the objectives of the project, not expending more resources than necessary, and keeping all my people in their highest and best use places.

(4) Try turning it in as is How did it go? Did you fall off the face of the planet?

I have actually used this tip to combat perfectionism on my own team. When I have a team member who is hoarding work because of their perfectionism, I build a little challenge for them. I ask them to let their teammates perform the work. Then, I have the teammates turn it in without any revisions or input from the manager. The result? It usually all works out fine. It allows the manager to see the capabilities of their teammate and it helps build trust in the work product.

(5) Challenge your need for perfectionism: What if it doesn’t go my way, will it matter?

I am going to be really honest – I have to use this question a lot in my day-to-day. I have to ask myself if my team member completes the project as is without my perfectionist tendencies taking over, will it matter? What impact will my input really have on the final goal of the project? In most instances, the things I would change are minor, and it’s not much. However, this is partly where coaching comes in and where I try to leverage it to help teach my team to fish, instead of catching those fish for them.

The elephant in the room.

I realize it takes work to delegate. I won’t refuse this fact. And yes, we are all super busy and feel overwhelmed, so we make up this little lie in our heads that this means we don’t have time to teach others. Well, I am calling BS on that statement. If you have time to do two people’s jobs, then you have time to teach your teammate how to help you better.

Will it be easy? No. Will you get frustrated sometimes? Definitely. Will you be thankful you did it. YES!

A different kind of learning.

Once I started re-evaluating my day-to-day approach to working with my team, I found I was less stressed and my whole team was stronger and grew for it. Plus, I learned two new skills in the process: coaching and process creation. I learned how to create repeatable processes and coach and train my employees to implement and as a result, I grew as a leader too.

Personally, I have felt so much more peace since working with my team to grow them professionally. It’s taught me how much I enjoy mentoring and leading others. It’s taught me not to resent my job or groan when someone hands me another project. Why? Because I’ve invested the time and energy into my team, and when we work together we are highly productive and making real progress.