The million-dollar leadership question

Dead-smack in the middle of the Norwegian Oslofjord lies the second-most famous opera house in the world (you win, Sydney).

It was delivered ahead of schedule and 6% under budget.

Compare that to Sydney’s Opera House which was over 10 years late, and 1,0357% over budget.

Nope, those are not typos.

Eat that, Sydney.

But while the projects to build these are worth a newsletter (or two) - that’s not what we’re here for today.

Instead, we need to talk about what happens inside buildings like these.

Huge orchestras are playing complex masterpieces, paced by the steady hand of a conductor.

What looks like a madman waving a stick to the untrained eye is the backbone of the orchestra. The conductor sets the pace and signals when to pick up or calm down.

Much like leading a project. You set the pace, give feedback, and ensure the client gets the best possible experience.

Now imagine for a second that someone doesn’t show up to the performance. There’s an empty seat in the line of violins.

Have you ever seen the conductor climb on stage to take that seat?

I bet you haven’t.

But that’s exactly what most project leaders would do in that case…

Think about it - it happens all the time. A key team member gets pulled off your team, or something unexpected comes up.

It’s not a question of if. It’s a question of when.

And when that happens, your reaction makes all the difference.

What’s your gut reaction?

A firefighter runs toward the issue and figures out how to fix it, while a conductor figures out who can fix it.

Ask who, not how.

When you step in yourself, a couple of things happen:

1. You rob someone of a learning opportunity

2. You are now the bottleneck

3. You lose the overview

I get it though. I’ve done this myself more than I’m willing to admit.

Why?

It’s more efficient to fix it myself. Or at least, that’s what I’d tell myself.

But there’s more to it. It’s fear.

The fear they won’t do it right. The fear it’ll take too long. The fear I’ll look stupid as a result of that.

All of those things have nothing to do with the issue. Instead, they have everything to do with how you delegate.

And if you don’t step over that fear of delegating, you’ll never reach your full potential.

Ask who, not how.

Next time you feel the urge to fix something yourself, pause. Ask yourself why you choose to do it yourself and see if you can empower someone else to do it instead.

Because you can only keep 10 balls in the air, but when you empower 10 people you turn that into 100.

By not fixing it yourself, you:

• Create redundancy in your team

• Give someone a learning opportunity

• Don’t turn yourself into the bottleneck

• Stay out of the details and keep the overview

And that’s how projects get better over time, not worse.

Your job is to give directions, set boundaries, provide resources, clear roadblocks, and cheer them on.

Not to fix everything yourself.

So you give them the why & what, agree on when & who, and let them figure out the how.

Because if they can’t figure out the how, they shouldn’t be on your team in the first place.

And while we could talk for days about delegation, here’s a quick 3-step checklist I often use:

1. Tell → explain what you want

2. Show → your definition of success

3. Check → manage mutual expectations

A great way to do the last one is to ask someone to explain in their own words what they're about to do.

Let them explain how they understood it, how they’ll approach it, and what they need. Once you both agree, get the heck out of the way.

Talk soon,
Jasper

PS: if a project keeps you up at night, you can save time, money, and stress by asking who, not how. Learn more about working with me here.