The Art of Delegating and Focusing on Strengths – Episode 490

This transcript was auto-generated and may contain errors.

[00:00] Call Shannon Maldonado, the founder of Yowie, a souvenir shop with artisanal articles and pieces selected by artists. I chose Shopify because after experimenting with other platforms, this was undoubtedly one of the most intuitive. For me, it was important to think about where we would be in the future. All the tools to analyze sales, such as inventory management, are right there, on our dashboard. Start your free evaluation at Shopify.com. Prosperity thinkers, on this episode of the podcast, we’re going to be talking about delegation and community. Now, you’re going to get a different perspective than you will get on almost any other podcast. Kim, let’s dive into it. Oh, so fun. So really, if you look at a business, that is a community.

[00:57] If you look at a family, if you look at a church group, you look at your neighbors, those are communities. And we tend to think of delegation in the business world as a, I’m up here and I do my special job, and I’m going to delegate to you down there all the things that I want to do. And that is not the right way to look at delegation. In my opinion, delegating is an act of loving whatever it is that needs to be done so much that you want the best person to do that job. So I’ll give you an example. In our business, we put on events. And one of the things that I do, and these are events for advisors, so I know a lot of our listener community are our clients, but I do events for advisors that help us learn all the things that I share with my clients.

[01:50] And I was doing a lot of the organization prep work, logistics around the event and not doing a very good job of it because it is not my love. And so things were getting missed and I was getting frustrated. And it dawned on me through some conversations with my sister, that there was a team member that could absolutely pick up some of those items and she would enjoy her work. The work would get done so much more efficiently and effectively, and that would free me to go and do what I am good at. And so this is not a higher to lower. This is an equal. There’s a job that gets done, and the best person to do that job is to whom that job should go and be delegated to. And then there’s a whole idea of delegating properly, right?

[02:45] Like we don’t want to do what’s called drive-by delegation, where we just throw the role or the job to the person. We want to make sure that the person has the authority, the responsibility, all the facts and figures, access back to us to clarify what is going to absolutely come up in terms of questions along the way, etc. Now here’s the thing. Delegation can be done within a community. So as an example, if you have two stay-at-home moms and maybe they’re both homeschooling their children, they could trade off delegation of various errands that had to be run. So maybe one mom really likes going to the Costco Sam’s Club type of place. Great, she could do the shopping at that type of place for both families,

[03:31] because maybe the other mom doesn’t mind getting in there and teaching math to the children or maybe organizing the outside soccer game or whatever it is. And so that is a form of delegation. It’s delegating back and forth. And you could also call it bartering or trading, which that’s going to be more common in a community. But like I said, a business is just a community. And while a business tends to have more, quote, common or formal delegations, a community can delegate slash barter just the same. And everybody’s happier because they’re doing the work that they’re good at. They’re doing the work that they love. And the work that is necessary to be done gets done better because people that are particularly suited with God-given talent

[04:25] specific to that work are the ones doing the work. It makes so much sense to me. I don’t know why we don’t do it more in our communities, this very common business thing of delegating. Yeah, I would say that one, that people aren’t clear and also they may not have the skills. I want to go to the actual language level before we jump to that, you know, some of the questions I have. And this will make your parents happy because they’re both teachers. So I’m going to the language level, which is the word audience versus community. An audience is one person that is pushing out to everyone else that is observing. A community is when there’s interaction between the two. And so you used the proper language with this,

[05:17] where I think old school was more audience. New school is community. So maybe we can jump into what are some of the ways that we can delegate. And then also I want to pull it to the very bottom level of delegating and teaching our children that. Because if we can teach them, then that means that we can also learn. Absolutely. Have you seen this happen as you meet with families? I would suspect that some of the families that are clear on their vision that follow what’s in perpetual wealth, that they’re really clear on their children delegating and them delegating, et cetera. Can you share some examples? Absolutely. I think all delegations starts with being clear on what your skill sets are. So the parent hopefully will be clearer on their own skill sets.

[06:15] And if they’re not, it’s so important to do the self work that enables you to be clear, to get clear. We have lots of podcasts in our history about the Colby profile and the strengths finder. There’s other things out there that can help you get clear on your own strengths and your own skill set if you’re not clear on them. My sister Tammy Brannon’s Blueprint Process is another example of that. All those types of things that enable you to get clear and get clear again. Because as we grow in life, our skill sets and the way we employ them may shift and grow as they should. I kind of feel like if you’re not going through a midlife crisis about every 10 years or so, then something’s not right. So then with children, as parents,

[07:01] we may be able to observe our children objectively enough to get clear on their skill sets. But I think it takes a pretty with it parent to do that. I think sometimes it’s too hard. I mean, they’re just too close to us. And we think so often that they’re going to have the same skill sets we do. And that may be the case, but it absolutely may not be the case. In fact, Kathy Colby will tell you that the whole hereditary thing is literally like 20% of the time, 80% of the time, your children have God-given talents different than you do. So I think it’s important also that we help our children figure out for themselves their unique talents, skills, contributions, messaging, et cetera. And then delegation can occur.

[07:55] I mean, as I sit here today, I have adult children. They have skills that supersede mine in particular areas. So I know that my daughter has a skill set that is unique that I will never have or wouldn’t without a ton of work. And I still wouldn’t be as good at it as she is because it’s God-given talent. And there’s a project that we’re working on right now today that she’s looking at for me to be helpful in a way that I would never be able to do. And my son has a different set of skills, and he has given me guidance on some things. In fact, our community will add this. One of them is social media. He, for many years, Mom, you’ve got to get help. I am so tired of seeing your, what do you call it?

[08:41] I think he used the word cringy, social media posts. That might have been my nephew, but one of us using that word, it was funny. So those families that appreciate, and my gosh, your seven-year-old can teach you things, right? I mean, we know that. And Spencer, you guys do a great job with that in your family. The families that do a good job of learning and staying on the learning path and enabling all members to contribute their God-given gifts and talents and skill sets and then elevate those because of the community that exists in a small family, just like it exists in our broader, more typical definitions of communities, is so, so helpful and so necessary. And we get so much good results

[09:29] when we can be open-minded to that. Absolutely. I think, you know, for me, the children of teaching them, I found it best that I will imperfectly teach them. And then I’ll ask one of the older kids to then go and teach a younger child. And often I’m surprised, like the results are better. I love it. The other thing when I think of delegation is I think often what is an easy way to delegate or what should I delegate? And I think people often don’t do it because they’re overwhelmed or they’re not clear. And there are platforms out there like Fiverr. You know, when I was deciding I want to do with a piece of our land, I went on and I hired an architect to design a small little chunk of the land.

[10:20] We’re talking $25. That’s it. I got someone from, I don’t know whether they were from Pakistan or something like that. And I got some insight that I never would have had myself. For 25 bucks, it was great. And, you know, I think all of us have those opportunities. We do definitely, we do not want to delegate without being clear. And we don’t want to abdicate our responsibilities. And so for you, I love and I look forward to being able to have conversations with you, you know, when we review the policies that we have. That’s helpful. When I talk with your team members, that’s helpful because I’ve delegated many of those pieces. Now, I haven’t given up anything and I haven’t done it because I’m lazy.

[11:12] I’ve just delegated so that I’m having an expert help. And so that’s how I’ve viewed it. And I imagine you’re the same way, you know, be it with clients or partners that you use, you’re delegating so that they’re multiplying your efforts, not because you’re lazy. Now, it’s an important distinction. Delegation is easier when you’re clear on your own gifts and then also get clear on what the complete opposite is. So I think one of the easiest things to start delegating with are those things that you really, really dislike doing. That’s a sign that someone else can do those better. Absolutely. For the books that you’ve written, the podcasts you put out, one thing that you show is that you’re not a one-person team.

[12:08] You’ve got a group of people around you. And I really want to applaud all of the support that you have. You know, when we interact with your team members, we’ve got Teresa who can answer any question in the world or, you know, whatever that may be. It’s amazing. And so for any of you listeners that are looking to get additional insight or information, one, I’d suggest sign up for the newsletter. Go to ProsperityThinkers.com and you’ll hear Kim’s voice from the support of a bunch of other people. If you’re looking for the financial insights, then send an email to hello at ProsperityThinkers.com and you’ll get Kim, Teresa or someone else that’s really helpful. So I’m giving you a shout out there.

[12:53] It wasn’t solicited, but I wanted to give that because I’ve received a benefit from it. Thank you. And I thank our team as well, because they are wonderful and helpful and couldn’t do it without them. Absolutely. All right. Thank you, Kim. And for all of you listeners, we look forward to hearing about your stories from delegating and living a more prosperous life. Thank you for listening to the Prosperity Podcast. To take control of your money and have it work for you, visit ProsperityThinkers.com.