00:08 Hi, I'm Denise Simpson, a master life and leadership coach who helps women step into their authentic and feminine power so they can lead like visionaries, influence with grace, and create a legacy of contribution and service. You'll hear about real leadership clients with real problems navigating their success in life, business, and career. If you're ready to become a masterful leader, then this podcast was made for you. So let's get
00:37 Started.
00:47 Hey, welcome back leader. Let's talk about delegating, delegating tasks to your employees. If you are a new leader, maybe three years into your leadership position, I want for you to stay very close to this episode. I think this is going to be so valuable for you, especially if you are starting this leadership journey. If you are at the beginning of the pipeline of leadership, stay right here with me. However, if you are in a new role, perhaps you went from an emerging leader into a new position as a mid-level leader, maybe you aren't brand new, but you have been positioned into a new role and perhaps you're now having concerns or challenges with delegating tasks because you're learning this new role and you're uncertain as to what your employees, your individual star performers are supposed to do. Perhaps you're learning their job descriptions. Perhaps you're learning the culture you ha are, are embedded in this new department or in this new division, and you are having a challenge delegating for whatever reason, right?02:05 It could be that we are people pleasers and we don't wanna delegate at a fear of not being liked, right? We're brand new. We want to be liked, we wanna fit in, we wanna be part of the tribe. However, dear leader, you are not part of the tribe. You are guiding the tribe. You're almost outside of the tribe. You're like at the border of that tribe. You are not part of that tribe, my friend. So wherever you are on the leadership journey, if you are having a challenge, delegating tasks to your employees, stay right here with me. I'm about to replay a livestream that I did not too long ago talking about why leaders have a challenge delegating tasks to their employees, and more importantly, how to overcome that challenge. So stay right here. Listen to the end this episode, and take what you can, implement it right away into your department or in your organization, and see for yourself how you will gain the confidence and the clarity on what you need to do next.03:13 So when you're ready to delegate and you're ready to give direction, you are not feeling overwhelmed, you're not feeling like a fraud, you do not have fear anymore to give direction to your employees. So this is the episode for you, my dear leader. So stay right here and I hope you enjoy this really great lesson, how to delegate to your employees. Take care. Hey there. Good afternoon friends. I hope everybody is fantastic. We have just a few more seconds before we officially start. I wanted to come on here, make sure that the camera's working, my audio is working, and that you are able to share your comments wherever you are watching this livestream. We are on YouTube, we are on LinkedIn, and we are on Facebook. So happy that you can join me wherever you are. My name is Dr. Denise Simpson. I'm happy to serve you today.04:15 What we get to do in the Masters of Leadership Institute is serve leaders who are doing great work. We're here to serve them because they are in the forefront. They are leading our people, they're moving our workforce, they're creating culture, they're dealing with all of the challenges, all of the struggles. And this institute that I developed is here to help them throughout their journey. And so welcome to, um, today's live. We're gonna get right into this because we have so much to cover. I know you're probably on your lunch break, so thank you for spending some time with us, for yourself. These are intended for, um, mini leadership trainings, maybe a mini workshop. Sometimes we're gonna mix things up for us, um, as we spend more time together. But today I wanna share with you a very important topic. New leaders, new managers. This is for you.05:19 One of the biggest challenges that new leaders and new managers face is not knowing how to delegate tasks to their team members, to their subordinates, to their direct reports. These are new people in leadership, and that's who I wanna talk to today. We wanna talk to those folks that just entered the pipeline and who knows, you may be midway on that in that pipeline and you're still feeling, um, challenged in delegating tasks. So if that's you, no matter where you are on the pipeline of leadership, stay here with me because this is, this is for all of us who have concerns, problems, challenges with delegating work. So the new leader, new manager, comes in from this individual star performer identity. They were very good at individual tasks. They were excellent at performance. They caught somebody's eye in the organization and they encouraged them to, uh, apply for a leadership position.06:27 And they did. And they're now a leader. So now they are responsible for leading a group of individual star performers. So the identity was of one who did excellent work individually, who was a team player, great collaborator, but now is in this new role of leadership. So there is a gap, there's a disconnect right now. It's called cognitive dissonance. So you have someone who is still in this identity of who they were before, and they are now being asked to immediately move into a new identity, the new identity of a leader and manager. So the gap is wide, is what we are seeing. The gap in their mindset is wide. Their gap in their skillset may be wider, and their gap in their strategies or actions or behaviors. And so these are interesting assessments that we get to do in the institute. We get to identify these gaps.07:26 And so here we are asking them to perform like leaders. And they don't know how to do that. Number one, they don't know this new role very well. They're getting to, to learn the nuances, the, um, the, the rules, the policies, uh, even their own job description. They don't know coming from an individual star performer to now a leader. There's some different things that they're responsible for. So they're learning how to read spreadsheets, financial spreadsheets. They're learning how to, uh, delegate work. They're learning about everybody's, you know, individual tasks, where before they were only responsible for themselves. And so if you are an executive leader or a leader who has a new leader, that is your direct report. I want for you to stay tuned as well. I want for you to listen in cuz this also applies to you. So this way you understand why they're not performing the way you expect them to perform.08:26 And so there's a gap. There's a gap in identity. There's a gap in mindset. There's a gap in problem solving. There's a gap in decision making. There's a gap in their confidence. There's a gap in self-awareness. There's a gap in strategy. There's a gap in operational managerial duties. There's, there are gaps. Gaps. And so the biggest challenge that I'm hearing right now from my clients in the institute and from my executive clients is that new leaders are having a problem delegating. And so that, that's what we wanna talk about today is why, why is that a problem? How is it a problem? How not delegating impact you as a leader and your team? And so it's important that we stay close to this conversation because delegating is one of the primary responsibilities that a new leader or manager has to fulfill delegating to delegate work.09:27 So delegating looks like, number one, understanding your role as a leader, but also understanding your, your direct reports roles. What are their roles? What is each one responsible in contributing? What is each one responsible in creating and resolving, uh, and finding solutions for? And so you, as this new leader has to take this, this this 30,000 foot view approach where you, you just have to pull back a little bit and start seeing all the pieces to this puzzle, which is your department. And so delegating looks like knowing what everybody's role is and then knowing how to individually inspire and motivate them and empower them to move as a group. So this is why I always say my friends leadership is a privilege because not anyone can do what we do. And so it's important that we understand what, what, what this new role requires of you, what you will have to, who you'll have to become in this process of leading.10:39 You're no longer that star performer. You're no longer responsible for your individual tasks. You're now responsible for yours as a new leader, but also your direct reports. So it's a fantastic opportunity for you to really learn about yourself. And this is why many of my clients and our clients inside the institute come to me and say, I don't, I, I'm overwhelmed. I'm so frustrated. I had no idea that this was required of me. I had no idea this is what leadership was about. I actually wanna go back to my individual star perform performer role. I don't wanna do leadership anymore because I'd rather be I responsible for my own individual tasks. Why would I wanna get into leadership and management? This is, this is the most debilitating time in my career. I, I feel overwhelmed. I feel frustrated, I feel inadequate. I feel like an imposter.11:36 Why would I wanna stay in this leadership role? So there's going to be a lot of thoughts that come out. There's going to be a lot of limiting beliefs that will surface know that there's nothing wrong with you if you feel this leadership is going to unearth so many of your insecurities and so many of your doubts. This is what leadership is about. It's the relationship you have with yourself as a leader first and foremost, so that you can then better understand the relationships you have with each of your subordinates. This is a privilege, my friend. And here's, here's what I want to also encourage you to do, , to stay put. I wanna encourage you to stay put in this role. I know it feels frustrating. I know it feels aggravating. You probably dislike your boss. You probably dislike the mission or the vision of the organization right now.12:35 Everything is looking very dark to you right now. You're not happy in this role, I get it. But before you leave the organization, because we need more people like you in the pipeline, we need more people like you who have jumped that broken rung on that leadership ladder. Do you know that there is a broken rung on the leadership ladder for women right now and women of color in particular, think about a ladder. That first step on that ladder of leadership is broken. It is broken for us, there's so many reasons why we can't get over that rung. So many reasons why we don't have women in executive suite levels. So many reasons why we don't have many women in C C E O positions because it all starts in this pipeline, the very first rung on that ladder. And so this is why I'm encouraging you.13:32 I'm asking you to work through all of this uncertainty, all of this un all these unpleasant emotions, negative emotions that you're feeling so that we can have you move in, hopefully into executive suite level positions. We just, you know, we wanna take care of you right here, right now, so that you get to stay in the pipeline in the future. It's really my selfish reason for helping all of these beautiful, amazing women leaders is because we need more of you in the pipeline. And so it starts right here. As this new leader, this new manager, you are important. We need you to, to, to get all of those uncertainties, all of those limiting beliefs out into your conscious awareness so that, so that we can better understand how to help you. Because leadership can be learned. Leadership is a skill and can be learned. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.14:34 I have distilled this down to three very, very simple categories. And, and it's, it's taken, you know, close to 30 years of doing this work because I want to share with you, it is, it's a skill that can be be developed. These categories can be developed. So you get to stay in the pipeline. Dr. Nikki Martinez is here. Hi . Good to see you. Um, look at what Dr. Martinez has to say. She needed to hear this today. Don't we all need to hear this today? Don't we all need to hear this? This is a message for all of us leaders, whether you're starting in the pipeline or you are a founder in an organization, or whether you are an executive director of your nonprofit. Wherever you are on this pipeline of leadership, know that delegating is going to be a requirement. You know, when I started in management, I was 19 years old at Bath and Body Works, , who gave the 19 year old the keys to the kingdom.15:37 I don't know somebody who saw something in me that I hadn't seen in myself, but there I was with the Keys opening up that store at Ingram Park Mall in San Antonio. That's right. That was me opening up those store, opening up, closing that store, all my employees. It was the first time that I had to lead. And I didn't know how. I didn't know how. And I suffered through that time at Bath and Bodywork. I suffered with my employees. I mistreated them. I mistreated myself. I didn't know how to delegate. I, you know, I came from an individual star performer, excelling in sales, moving into a management role. What did I know about that at that time? I wanted a people please. I wanted for everybody to like me. I didn't want to look different. I didn't want to look like I was, I wa and I wasn't one of them anymore.16:30 I wanted to stay in the tribe because that's what our brains are designed to do. And by the way, leadership removes you from the tribe. That's the nature of leadership. Look at your hierarchy in your organizations. Look at your hierarchy in your nonprofits or your foundations. Look at the hierarchy. It is intended for you to be separated. Separated. You've got the group, you're leading the group, but you my friend, you're the innovator, you're the creator. You are the one that's the visionary. You're the one that's looking forward, right? But understanding what the group needs to move them into that new vision. So of course there's a separation, of course it feels uncomfortable, especially for our new people who are having to learn how to delegate. What does that look like? Why do I, why do I feel this way? Why do I feel so uncomfortable in doing this delegating work?17:31 How do I stop caring about them? How do I remove myself from their feelings so that I can be a better leader? These are the questions that we're asking ourselves as new leaders, because we were hired to do these roles. We were hired to produce, we were hired to create and re and solve for problems. This is what we get to do as leaders. And so we get to make these very hard decisions. We get to have these complicated, challenging conversations with our employees, but we also get to inspire people. We also get to empower them. We also get to motivate them. So there's, there's these a balance that we must keep as leaders. There are things that you're not going to want to do. There are things that are going to suck. And then there's going to be the most fulfilling, joyous, rewarding part of your leadership role.18:27 And that is getting to lead and inspire your people and move them into levels of potential that they had no idea they had. That's the rewarding part. Nevermind the power, the status, the salary. You get to move into these new levels of leadership because you did the hard work and you inspired and you motivated your people. This is what we get to do as leaders. It's a privilege. It's a privilege. And so we start here though, right here with our new leaders, our new managers, our new friends here. These are the people who are at the start of this pipeline. And delegating is going to be a primary role in your leadership position. And so I want to share with you three very simple things that you can start doing right now. Number one, I want for you to find self-awareness around why you are having a challenge delegating.19:29 Is it because you don't wanna look like an outsider? Is it because you were once a team member and now you have to lead these folks? Are you uncomfortable in giving direction? Do you feel like you have to be aggressive as a leader? Do you feel like you have to dominate and monopolize their thinking? What is it about you being challenged and delegating these tasks? Self-awareness is always number one. Number one, self-awareness. By the way, Cornell University and um, uh, a private, uh, consulting firm did a great study on self-awareness. And it, 98% of leaders said not self-awareness is their, is the predictor of success the number one predictor of success? Self awareness. So we take this time right now to answer why we are having problems. Why are we challenged with delegating tasks to people? Is it because we, we people please. Now so many of us, because we were individual star performers, we were so, you know, we didn't have a lot of responsibilities but our own, we didn't have to, you know, manage anyone else's brain.20:41 We only managed ourselves. And there were some aspects in us of people pleasing. We wanted to be part of team. So we did things for others, we took projects from others, we took more responsibilities from others. And if you're a people pleaser in your personal life, I guarantee you, you are a people pleaser in your organization. Straight up. This is no joke. This is the realest, realest talk you and I can have. People pleasing will move. When someone moves into leadership with those aspects of people pleasing, you are doomed for disaster. Leadership is not about people pleasing at a bigger level. That is something that we need to work on. Are you someone who doesn't wanna disappoint people? Are you someone who just doesn't wanna tell anybody what to do? I know I had that problem. I didn't know how to communicate. I didn't know how to articulate, I didn't know how to give direction to an employee.21:37 I didn't because I didn't feel confident. I wasn't confident. I didn't even know what my role was, much less their role. I didn't know what I needed to know at that time. And so I want for you to ask yourself, why am I challenged? Why, why am I, am I having such a hard time delegating? And then list out, this is self-honesty is part of self-awareness. So you're gonna wanna be honest with yourself here. You're gonna jot down all of those reasons why every single reason why you are having a problem delegating tasks. It's important that we bring this to our conscious awareness. We bring it from the, the darkest parts of our, our unconscious mind, and we move them to the forefront of our brain so that we can better understand. So we can see for ourselves, this is the problem. Here is why I'm having these challenges. Here is what I need to do. That's number one. Number two, I want for you to ask yourself, do I trust myself in this new role? Do I have self-trust? It's one thing to have self-awareness, number one, but now we ask ourselves, do I trust myself as a leader?22:53 And if the answer is maybe then ask yourself why. Why is it a maybe, why don't I have full confidence in my new role? Is it because it's new to you? It's new territory, it's unchartered territory. Perhaps you haven't been trained. Perhaps nobody has shown you, perhaps you're the trailblazer. Perhaps no one has gone before you. Perhaps you're the first in your family. Perhaps you're the first in the organization. So it, again, self-honesty here. Why don't I trust myself in this role? Do I trust myself? Yes, no, maybe no. Why not? Why don't I trust myself in this new role? You know, something that I learned very early on was, uh, I had really bad role models of leadership and I learned some very bad behaviors from some very bad leaders. Integrity was out the window, no moral compass at all. Transactional with my employees.23:55 Tit for tat. You know, it was always you do this and I'll do this for you. It was just the, the most toxic way of leading. And I learned it from someone. I learned it from actually more than one person. But it wasn't until I started to take my role seriously until I started to question why the results I was creating with my teams unfulfilling less than subpar status quo. Status, status quo was, was the average. It was the mentality I had. I started to question why, why we weren't doing well, why we weren't successful. And I had to look at myself in the mirror because they're just a reflection of who I am as a leader. And so that's when I started to really tune into my confidence, to tune into my habits, the good and the bad tune into my beliefs, the good and the bad.24:56 I started to, to to really take a deeper look at who I was and what leader, who I wanted to become as a leader. And so ask yourself, do I trust myself in this new role? And if I don't, why? And if I do, great list all the reasons why you do trust yourself in this leadership role. But the chances are you're probably not, you probably don't trust yourself just yet. If you're having struggles, challenges delegating, you may not be able to trust yourself as a leader right now. And when you don't trust yourself, you don't trust the decisions you make, you don't trust the problem solving, you don't trust the results you create, you don't even trust your employees. Which leads me to number three. Do you trust your employees to do their jobs? Right? Because if you're having a problem delegating, that means you're taking on their work. Cuz who else is taking on their work? You, you're the one taking on this additional work. So if you're having problems delegating, you're probably absorbing this. So does that mean you don't trust your employees? Does that mean you don't trust their work ethic? You don't trust their performance? And if that's the case, then we need to look at you, my friend.26:18 So number one was self-awareness. I want for you to practice self-honesty. Why am I having challenges, struggles in delegating these tasks? Number two, I want for you to ask yourself, do I trust myself in this leadership role, this new role? And number number three, do you trust your employees? And so this is the work we get to do as leaders. It's not pretty. This is, this is not pleasant work. Self-awareness work coaching work is not, it's not, it's not the most comfortable. But here's what's what I can guarantee you. When you find awareness around why you're doing what you're doing as a leader, why you have these particular behaviors, why you're creating these specific results. Once you realize this, we can then move into closing that gap, that identity gap. Your brain is still looking at the past and who you were as an individual star, perfor performer.27:22 But we have to answer those questions. 1, 2, 3 that I just shared with you so that we can start moving closure to closing this gap. It's cognitive dissonance is what's happening. You have to show up as a new leader. You have to show up as a, as a new manager. But your brain is still in the past, your brain is still in the role of an individual star performer. And this is why you're having ch challenges. Like not delegating, like not trusting your employees. Some of you are micromanaging, some of you are complete opposite. Some of you don't wanna have anything to do with, with direction or leading or delegating. So check in on your brain and your nervous system. One thing I will leave you with my friends is that we lead at the capacity of our nervous system. Isn't that interesting? We lead, let me repeat that again.28:15 We lead at the capacity of our nervous system. I talked to a client earlier today and coached during the institute where we talked about the gutter guards of the bowling alley. You know, when children are learning how to bowl, there are gutter guards. That's so that you, they don't, you know, you, you stay in the lane and you don't fall into the gutter. And so what happens when we lead is we take an action. We, we have, we have a circumstance or situation with an employee and our nervous systems get shot. So here we are throwing the, throwing the ball, the bowling ball, and then we, we butt up against a guard and that's butting up against our nervous system because it's uncomfortable. Oops. Oops. Okay, get back in the lane. And then here we are on, on the next, on the other side of that, of that lane.29:04 And we have another circumstance, we have another challenging conversation. We have a performance evaluation we have to give that we're dreading and there's your nervous system bumping up against that gutter guard. And so leadership is having to go back and forth sometimes. And it's not until we get comfortable, we don't wanna shock our nervous system, we don't wanna go into spirals. We ch we want to be very aware of what our body, our mind, our nervous system is telling us when we lead. And so when we're not, when we're afraid to be challenged, when we're afraid to look like we're not part the group, when we feel like, we'll, you know, cuz we're so isolated as leaders when we don't wanna look like we're outside of the tribe, our nervous systems get activated. And so it's, it's important that you get the coaching, you get the training to help you realize when you're, your nervous system is activated and why you're feeling these emotions, why you go in into shame spirals.30:08 I I'd still do that. I still go into a shame spiral. And so I want for us to take a closer look and this is part of the self-awareness work. I'm gonna take a closer look at how you react, how your body reacts to leadership, how your mind re reacts to leadership. How to close that gap from that former identity to this new identity. And how we can close this gap, not drastically, but step by step until we can have this alignment in who you are today. Listen, your people are counting on you, we are counting on you. We want for you to lead powerfully. We want for you to step into your authority. We want for you to, you to take us into this new vision that you have for us. We're counting on you. So it's your responsibility to do this work and we can help you do that work inside the institute.31:06 So I will leave you with inviting you into a new certification program that I am offering. We are going to focus on you as the new leader, as a new manager, making sure that you understand your current role. We're also going to develop leadership skills, develop ma mindset mastery. We're going to develop your strategy so that you can then show up as powerful, impactful, effective leaders in your organizations, in your communities, in your families. And so if you are interested, you're going to want to stay close to all of my social media, um, channels here. Um, what I'll do at the end of this post here is invite you to join my, um, email list. That way you can stay very close to announcements and um, and you get to be one of the first to join us in this new certification program. It is a certification.32:04 You'll be able to hang this up, show this to your employer, get professional development hours. Um, you'll be able to turn this into your HR department. Ask your leader right now if, if there is, um, professional development, uh, budgets for you to join me in this very, uh, very soon certification program that we're offering all of our great leaders out there doing great work. So stay close to that. Um, close to me here on wherever you're watching this. And then make sure you get on my email list. Alright? That is what I will leave with you, leave you with. Thank you so much for joining me. If you have questions, please reach me here, wherever you're watching this DM me or get on that email list so that we can stay in touch. Um, but again, my friends, I am, I am wishing you all the best. There's nothing wrong with you, there's nothing wrong with you. All of this is normal. What you're experiencing right now is normal and I can help you resolve that and, um, and get you closer to the leader you wanna become. So thank you so much for your time today. That's it. That's my 30 minutes here. I will see you all very soon on our next live. Take care.33:17 Hey, leader, do you want weekly leadership tips, coaching and training straight to your email inbox? Yeah, I thought so. Head over to dr denise simpson.com/leadership. Again, that's dr denise simpson.com/leadership. Just submit your name and your email address and we'll get started right away. I look forward to serving you inside your email inbox. See you soon.
