Welcome to this first of a short series of posts for calmer ways to work.
The problem
Leaders, you are struggling to fit an ever expanding workload into your days, weeks and years. You are tired. You live in a competitive world that seems to be accelerating and twisting away from you, there are more new technologies to get your head around, regulation seems to be ever changing, costs are rising... In other words, you can find yourself constantly fighting fires and struggle to make the progress you need.
I've been there and that is why I quit my job, four years ago, to set up Clear as a Bell, live a better quality of life with purpose and enjoyment. Since then, I've helped dozens of people get clarity on their projects, make small and not so small changes that eventually add up to big changes, turning things around for better results with a calmer mind and body.
In this short series, we will cover topics with practical things you can do to lessen the pressure while looking after the results.
Caveat
I make no guarantees about what will change; you'll need to find what works for you, find your own definition of "too much" and "results". You will do the work. What I can offer is an opportunity to think about your priorities, offer a number of ideas to try out, options for you to decide on what to implement and where to focus your resources. f
Topic 1 Delegating
Why delegate?
Think of someone you admire. What are they good at? What do you think they're not so good at?
The best leaders recognise their own strengths and surround themselves with people who have the strengths that they don't. Delegating to an expert or another pair of hands is one way to do that, for better results. I don't, for exanple, do electrical installations because a qualified electrician has the skills, tools, certifications and speed of operation that would make it uneconomic, time-consuming and unsafe for me to tackle it myself.
You can run your business functions, or even your homelife, with similar reasoning.
Ask yourself 4 simple questions:
1. Am I able to I do it? Yes / No
2. Is it the best way to use my own time? Yes / No
3. Would the results be what we need? Yes / No
If you've answered 'No' to at least one of the above, consider delegating. Then ask yourself the final question:
4. What becomes possible if I was not doing this?
The benefits of outsourcing as Delegating
I've seen the increase in bottom-line results, well-being and creativity at a £2m charity. As part of a growth strategy, they have gradually increased the number of carefully selected services to entrust to external partners:
📰 PR advice and consultancy
🤖 income admin (service and software)
£ 🆕 income stream development consultancy (x2)
🗣️ Google ad management
and that's in addition to having outsourced Finance and HR a long time ago.
On the other hand, they have back taken in-house most of their response handling, thus reducing risks, overhead costs, while increasing their speed and flexibility to thank donors more personally.
It didn't happen all at once and took good planning and decision-making.
Considering your outsourcing as partnerships, rather than a client-supplier relationship, helps build the services and products around you, rather than the other way round.
For this charity, the focus was first on choosing the right experts (specialisms, cost, fit, availability) and now is on managing the relationships with the external partners. A contract comes under contract law and so can be adapted to both parties requirements.
What has become possible is for staff to spend much more time talking personally to supporters about their interest in the cause, making the relationship more a partnership too. They are learning and organising more ways for people to be involved and to invite others to come along too.
If you are juggling so many balls you're dropping them, or exhausting yourself keeping them in the air, how do you decide, as a small business owner or charity leader which is best to outsource and how?
How you can start today!
Ask yourself the 4 questions above for each task you take on. Get your teams to do the same. If you're not sure what to start with and how to work out the costs and benefits, I can help.
As your external partner for change and growth, I will guide you to a calmer way of doing business. Contact me today for a free discovery call and to find out about my Number one Workshop - From Fighter to Calm Changemaker.
The first 3 people to book in a free call will be eligible for two free extra coaching hours if you sign up to any 6-session business leadership coaching programme.
* A word about the word "leader". Leader is not a job title! Leadership can come from anyone and anywhere. If you are making any decisions about anything, you are a leader. If you are influencing others on what to do or how to do something, you are a leader.