Turbo Leadership Systems^™

Letting go is empowering

Lisa, corporate finance director for a commercial heating and air conditioning service contractor, told Session 7 of Turbo’s Leadership Development Lab (LDL):

“After being in my current role for over 20 years, I found myself lacking enthusiasm for the management part of my job. It’s no secret to my bosses that it’s my least favorite part of my job. I am the type of person who needs to get my hands dirty – roll up my sleeves and do ‘real work.’ This has made it very difficult for me to delegate tasks to the other members of my team – after all, I’d rather be doing the work myself. To me, managing people can sometimes feel like I’m nothing but a babysitter for adults.

“Over the last several weeks I’ve discovered a new found purpose and enjoyment in managing people. I’ve found myself delegating tasks that I still enjoy doing, and I have come to realize that through delegation I am empowering and motivating my team. I have enjoyed setting challenging performance goals with the team – and then actually following up by checking in with them to see how they are coming along in accomplishing their goals. And when they lack the ability (or motivation) to prioritize their goals, we are setting deadlines together. I have found that this makes for far more productive conversations in our weekly meetings. (Ask for Turbo’s Action Register and Agreements Record to see how easy it can be to build a record of achievement.)

“I have become 5x more enthusiastic about my role as a manager! It has become natural to spontaneously hand out words of praise and encouragement – something that has never been easy for me. Even when one member of my team tried to shrug off the praise by saying ‘Well, isn’t this is what you told me to do?’ – I said to her ‘I know I asked you to do it, and I still appreciate the fact that you got it done.’

“Last Friday, for the first time in a very long time, I took my team, all of us, out to lunch for no reason other than ‘just because.’ In the past I have been too uncomfortable to do this; I was always afraid conversation would be too difficult. We had a great time!

“The lesson I have learned from my new engaged approach to leadership is that when I stretch beyond my former comfort zone, with the right amounts of enthusiasm and intentional focus, managing people can be a lot more fun and it brings more meaning to my work and life.

“The action I want you to take is to apply 5X more enthusiasm to some part of your job that you’re uncomfortable with, that you don’t particularly enjoy doing. The benefit you will gain is a renewed sense of purpose. You will put renewed joy and powerful purpose back into your life and work.”

ENSURE 2013 STARTS WITH A ROAR! Start your year on a high and leverage the exciting promise of the New Year. We will tailor a planning program for you that will guarantee your year starts on a high note and your team will rocket forward into 2013.

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