Stop doing other people’s jobs #blindpost

This is a #blindpost.

When I first read this headline, you’ll see I took it in a bit of a different direction than the original author’s intention (included below in case you’re curious).

Almost every over-achiever I know could use this advice. Because they are over-achievers and very good at excelling at anything they do, they often get asked by people to do more than they should. It’s natural and I’m as guilty as anyone.

I could ask SoandSo to do this thing, its her job after all, but ThisPerson kicks butt at everything I give her so I’d rather she take it. 

And because ThisPerson is an over-achiever, she typically says yes. To everyone. And everything. And kicks butt at it. And the cycle continues…

The additional problem here is that an over-achiever is used to seeing things done at a very high level. And they also know that SoandSo is going to do a job that, well, isn’t quite as up to par as it should be. So they take it over and just do it.

And then they work too hard. They burn out. And they don’t get to dive deep into anything but rather end up spread thin across a million things.

So this is a public service announcement to the over-achievers. The A+’s, if you will. STOP DOING OTHER PEOPLE’S JOBS!

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Original article:

Today’s advice comes from our interview with Helen Mills, owner of Helen Mills Event Space and Theater:

“When I have led successfully it’s because I’ve enabled my team to do their job.”

Mills, who runs an events company in New York City, says the key to her success is choosing the right team and giving them everything they need to do their job well.

While leaders need to be available to answer and ask questions from their team, they must also recognize the value in their employees’ talents and give them room to succeed.

“I do find that leading is a collaboration because I find that there’s so much knowledge required to be successful that not one person can have all of it and one style will not lead to success.”