“I don’t have time to train others.” “I don’t have time to develop my employees.” 

This not only kills motivation and engagement, but, sets a precedent so when responsibilities shift (because change is inevitable), others will expect that you will do the work for them. 

 

How often do we experience this? If you think it’s faster to do yourself, then you end up doing everyone’s tasks and then you’ve well exceeded your capacity and are going to burnout if you haven’t already.  Many of you might be aware of the toll this takes on other parts of your life (spills into your personal life/affects your personal relationships). 

 

Personal story: I experienced this when I took over someone’s role. She had been a complete enabler – doing everyone’s work for them because she found it easier than training and holding people accountable. 

When I took her role, it put me in a very uncomfortable position because first, I had to learn/determine where the boundaries were supposed to be and second, I had to start pushing back on people at higher levels in the organization, which made me uncomfortable. Additionally, I was still learning myself so I often had to rely on my boss to answer their questions and train them. I was definitely insecure about being seen as “not a team player.” 

 

Bottom line: taking the time to train and develop others requires effort up front but will save you an enormous amount of lost time and headaches later. It’s worth it – not only for yourself, but those around you because you’ll be helping others thrive. 

 

If you find yourself thinking it’s faster to do everything yourself, I’d ask yourself what’s really going on here. Often, it’s that you are uncomfortable holding others accountable (which also takes time and effort). No one said being a leader was easy! You hold a leadership title which means you have responsibility to others. You get paid more (hopefully) because you have this added responsibility. If you aren’t willing to delegate, train, and put in the effort to hold others accountable, I suggest developing your leadership skills or exiting your role as a people manager.