One of the things that I give workshops about is delegating without guilt.
There’s a light side and a shadow side to being an effective leader.
We are effective leaders because of that light side.
We’re skilled at effectiveness, organization, and being really great at the job.
That’s easy to see and often shows up on evaluations and feedback forms.
But what about the shadow side of leadership?
That can look like:
hyper independence
growing up as the kid who always did the group projects or took over
“It’ll be easier if I just do it.”
Nothing wrong with that - it’s just shadow.
Let’s pay attention and shine a light on it.
Why might I be saying “I’ll just do it myself” ?
There’s a feeling there.
Probably feeling afraid.
Great news! We’ve identified the feeling. Let’s not squash it down.
I’m afraid because I probably believe, “this project will not get done unless I do it.”
So of course - if I believe that, which generates fear, of course I can’t delegate.
Instead of trying to force myself to delegate more projects,
aka I can’t see my shadow at work,
let’s back it all up by acknowledging the fear. Feeling it.
And adjusting the thoughts.
Tell me, how does this show up for you in your workplace?
I’d love for this community to gather more examples to support each other in delegation and leadership.
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