Giving Up the Keys
When I was first dating my husband he would spend time with my four-year- old daughter and myself on Sundays. Sometimes we would go grocery shopping together and after one of those outings he asked me a question. “Why don’t you give her the keys to the house and let her unlock the door for you?” I hadn’t even considered this. I was a single mom that always was juggling keys, groceries and the door while trying to get my daughter in the house. I hadn’t considered that she was now old enough to take on some of these small tasks. Of course it was painful the first 5 to 6 (maybe more like 20 to 50 times) she tried to open the door, first looking for the right key on the keychain, then which direction the key fit in, how to turn the lock - all while I was impatiently holding heavy bags of groceries. Eventually she took such pride in jumping out of the car, getting my keys, racing up to the door like she was an Olympic athlete and unlocking the door. I finally realized that by giving away a task, she was gaining a victory.
I have had many moments in my career where I had to learn to give up and give away certain duties. Sometimes that is a struggle. Sometimes I needed to be reminded that this would be a great opportunity for someone else to tackle going forward. Early in my career I set up Payroll and HR Systems. I knew how to dump and pull data out of any number of systems, reconfigure that data and feed it into a new system. I learned how to pull reports quickly and in the format we needed to get the data necessary for the project. Once I became the HR/Payroll person I continued to dig down deep into the data and enjoyed pulling this information when we needed it. It has always been like a brain teaser or crossword puzzle - figuring out where this information lives, how to pull it and then reconfigure it in a useable manner. Once the company grew and my role as well, people joined the department. When I continued to jump in and pull the data I needed, my team couldn’t gain the muscle to do this task for me and learn in the process. Eventually one of my co-workers was good enough to speak up and ask me not to do it any longer. He wanted the opportunity to own that data and be that resource in the department.
It reminded me that I had been stepping on his toes and, even though I enjoyed doing this task, that it no longer should be a focus in my larger role. I had larger items to tackle and by giving this away it allowed someone on my team to become the expert and the resource. After moving to a new job later in my career, I actually refused to run reports myself in order to ensure that my team would learn this skill and become the experts.
Recently talking to a group of employees, one of them expressed disappointment that their manager always dismissed them early in the evening. This person was still training in her role and she felt that by going home early there were tasks that she was missing out on since they only happened late in the evening. Her manager told a story that was familiar to me - she thought that she was protecting her staff from the late night burnouts of the position. I reminded the manager to give the keys away more often to give her employee the opportunity to return a victory.
Consider how we do this in both work and at home. Where are the opportunities to give the keys away? You will be able to take on something new yourself while giving someone else a new and exciting challenge.