Construction Trailblazers: Paving The Way to Excellence

Samantha C. Prestige: Hey everyone,
and welcome back to another episode of

Construction Trailblazers Paving the
Way to Excellence Your go-to podcast

for innovation, success, and streamlined
excellence in the building industry.

I'm your host, Samantha C, prestige
and expert in operations and processes.

I've seen the Transformative effects
of adopting smart, efficient processes.

These changes not only
boost company revenue, but.

Also restore peace of mind for owners
overwhelmed by the daily grind.

On this show, we bring to light leaders
who are innovating across the industry and

creating outstanding results, inspiring
you to forge your own path to excellence.

Today we're diving into a topic that
hits close to home for a lot of us

who lead teams in manage projects,
the art of delegation, specifically,

why it's totally okay to say that
something isn't worth your time.

Don't get me wrong, we're not gonna talk
about shunning responsibility, but rather

optimizing where you invest your energy.

So if you're all about leaving behind
the daily firefighting and moving towards

a future of freedom and predictable
success, then you're in the right place.

Discover more about us
and catch up on past

episodes@constructiontrailblazers.com.

All right, so let's get into it.

I see this often, especially in
the construction field, leaders who

take the lead by example concept
to heart and to the extreme.

They wanna be right there in the trenches
with their team, showing their employees

that they are right alongside them doing
the work too, which can be fantastic.

It often means that these leaders end
up taking on way more than they should.

This is the type of leader
who can't help but jump in.

If you've taken our, what kind of
trailblazing hero are you quiz,

then this is the fix it flash hero.

If they wanna run in and help solve all
the problems that come up and do a lot

of the work themselves, usually because
they feel bad asking their team for help,

or they feel like it's a stretch to ask
and that problem solving isn't really

in their employee's job description.

If some of what I'm saying is
resonating, then take the hero

quiz to see if you are a fix-it.

flash@constructiontrailblazers.com
slash quiz.

Okay, so this isn't the leader
who is bad at delegating because

they don't trust their team.

Now a fix-it flash is bad at
delegating because they just don't

know how to empower their team.

They're missing the point that
delegation can be a form of empowerment.

and they also don't understand that
there is nothing wrong with saying

that a task isn't worth their time.

They think that by solving all the
problems, they are helping their team.

Really, they're just
creating more problems.

First, they're creating
bottlenecks, right?

So now they are the person that people
have to come to to solve issues.

They're the only person that's
doing a certain type of admin task.

Um, they're making it harder
for themselves as a leader to

stay on top of all the work.

So they just get more and more burnt out.

This is usually how we get to the
point of thinking that 10 to 12

hours or more is a normal work day.

Let's be clear, that's not a normal,
we should not be accepting this

no matter what industry we're in.

They're also holding their team back.

So every position in a company, whether
it's the receptionist, an office

manager, to a superintendent, to our
leadership team, everybody should

have some element of problem solving.

This is not a skillset or
character trait that's reserved

just for executive management.

This is something we want
all of our employees to have.

In fact, we should be screening for
problem solving and critical thinking

skillset during interviewing and hiring.

That's a totally different topic
though, so let's get back to

delegating and empowering our team.

There's a big misconception here that
delegating tasks can sometimes mean

that you're saying a certain task is
beneath you, um, or that if you're

delegating it and passing it on to
someone else, then maybe you're showing

your power over an employee or losing
that lead by exact example element,

which is not what is happening at all
actually, when you delegate effectively.

So delegating is not about
being better than any task.

It's about being realistic about
where your time is best spent.

As leaders, our greatest value
isn't just in doing, it's in

steering the ship, focusing on
those high level strategic tasks.

Think about it.

Every minute you spend on a task that
could be effectively handled by someone

else is time that you're not spending
on strategy, planning, or growth.

So these are the high level tasks
where you as a leader, bring the most

value to your projects, to your team.

To company goals.

So by spending more time trying to
be in the trenches with your team,

with this lead by example concept,
you're actually just leading them

more and more astray, and you stop
bringing high value to your company.

So where would you start in delegating
effectively and moving away from

this fix-it flash mentality.

The first step is actually
not what you would expect.

A lot of people are going to tell
you to right away identify those

tasks that can be handed off, or to
do a time analysis on your calendar.

See where you're spending the most
time, where the most distractions are.

Neither of these are
great starting points.

Um, they feel kind of overwhelming,
kind of complex, which means you're

just gonna procrastinate on it
and not actually do it, right?

So here are the best two places to start.

Number one is ideal.

If you already have SOPs in place
and you've got some flow charts

or your visuals for those SOPs,
then here's where we can build

out our job descriptions, right?

Because a job description should
always be related to certain processes

anyway, so we can look at our flow
chart and start identifying, okay,

what should be handled by which people
in this process or on this team?

Um, and then where does it make sense
for you to be involved in the process?

Right.

If you don't have SOPs in place,
um, or at least you don't have them

documented, then the next best place to
start is really an understanding what

you want your job description to be.

So dialing into what you should or
want to be in charge of every day.

And then from there, one, some other
tasks come, come across your desk.

It's easier to say.

This isn't really something that
I would add to my job description.

I'm going to delegate this or, yep,
this is something that's kind of

aligned with what I should be handling.

I'm gonna go ahead and knock this out.

So this is a common exercise we
do when one of our clients brings

on a virtual assistant, so.

Sometimes in a process, there's a lot
of admin tasks that don't make sense

for that leader or owner to be doing.

It also doesn't make sense to pass off
to a manager and we don't wanna hire

someone totally different for just
these few sets of, of admin tasks.

So that's where we will
bring on a virtual assistant.

And if, again, if we don't have those
SOPs in place, then we're gonna start

to understand what this owner or
leader should or shouldn't be doing.

And then whatever is left over is
where we start to build the job

description for the assistant.

Instead of starting with the assistant's
job description and then working backwards

to the owner, we're gonna start with
that owner, that leader, that manager.

So this is a pretty humbling exercise
and it also helps to ground you with

the idea of what is worth your time.

And then saying these other
tasks aren't worth my time.

Doesn't feel like saying
something is beneath you.

And I get it, delegating is
not always easy at first.

you might have that
fear of losing control.

You might feel that guilt, but you've
gotta remember that empowering your team

with real responsibilities and with those
opportunities to problem solve on their

own is what's going to help them grow.

And a lot of times we wanna focus
on building a stronger team,

not just being this comfortable
leader that everybody loves.

Right.

The benefits of this are huge.

There's more productivity, there's
better team morale, and you can get out

of extinguishing those daily fires and
move towards planning for future success.

So your team gets the chance to
learn and to step up, which only

makes your whole business stronger.

So if you take one thing away
from today's chat, let it be this.

I.

Delegating isn't about pushing
away trivial tasks and shunning

responsibility, it's about strategically
empowering your team by placing

the right tasks in their hands.

So evaluate your own little habits and see
where you might be holding on to tight and

consider where you can let go a little so
you can bring more value to the company.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Have you found a task you delegated
that transformed the way you work

or the way you lead projects?

You could share your story with us at
hello@constructiontrailblazers.com.

If you feel like you might be a fix-it
flash, or you're just interested in

seeing what kind of trailblazing hero
you are, then take our quick five

minute quiz@constructiontrailblazers.com
slash quiz.

Both of those links will
be in our show notes.

Thank you for listening,
and we'll see you next time.