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Friday, July 27, 2012

We Hired You to Be a Leader

We Hired You to Be a Leader


In a previous post I talked about an interview Chris LoCurto did with Joe Scarlett, former CEO of Tractor Supply Company for the EntreLeadership Podcast. If you haven't listened to the podcast, do yourself a favor and click here to listen (be sure to scroll to the bottom to listen to the bonus interview!)!

In the interview, Joe talks about his love of delegation. Bragging (rightfully so, in my opinion) that he had delegated so well that as CEO he made very few actual decisions.


Photo courtesy of Mays Business School, Some Rights Reserved
He told a story about when he was a young leader in an department store in charge of closing the store. In order to get finished he rolled up his sleeves and began emptying garbage cans etc. While do so the store manager came to him and said, in effect, "We didn't hire you to empty the garbage, we hired you to lead. "

What a profound statement. Joe said that after that delegation became his middle name!! He says if you learn to delegate you'll never become a workaholic.

Delegation


Delegation is the key to keeping balance in your life. Joe says living a balanced life and not letting work take over is a mindset. He says you must do 4 things well:

1. Build good teams

2. Delegate responsibility

3. Trust people to get the job done

4. Set up checkpoints to make sure things stay on track.

his definitive statement on delegation was:

"if you can't delegate responsibility you can't move up the ladder."



Question: What is your view of delegation? How can you delegate so you can be a more effective leader?


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3 comments:

  1. Proper delegation with a quality team lets you focus on the big picture, where you should be focused most of the time anyway.

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  2. Mark, I know Joe Scarlett and he has a solid reputation as a leader. And the Scarlett Leadership Center is also a wonderful organization teaching leadership principles. This comment isn't meant to contradict the role of delegation, but to say that delegation really is a balancing act.

    As leaders, we create leadership moments. Recall the famous action of Walt Disney, who stopped to pick up trash in the park. He said if he walked by the trash, he would have sent a signal to others that it was okay to do so. In that case, delegation would have been a big mistake--it would have been costly to the culture he was creating.

    It's a careful line to delegate just the "right" amount.

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    Replies
    1. That's a fantastic point Skip! Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting!
      I think you're right, there are times that you need to delegate in order to accomplish those things that only you can do, and there are times to do the little things because they need to be done, or to set an example, like your Walt Disney story!


      Thanks for the reminder! I'm learning more and more each day about how to be a more effective leader!

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