Message From Julie: Lessons From My Mat: Let Go to Grow

Author: Julie Chance, Founder of Action Strategies by Design

During a recent yoga class my teacher was talking about transitions. She said, “If you want to grow you must let go”. I was struck by how true this is in life and in leadership.

We often think about growth as adding more – more skills, more responsibilities, more rewards. Yet somewhat paradoxically, growth requires letting go – letting go of control, of old habits, of outdated processes and even long-held beliefs.

Times of transitions – those periods when we are struggling to let go of the past so we can embrace the future – are uncomfortable. Holding on may feel safe, but it is actually a not-so-comfortable comfort zone preventing us and our teams from growing and contributing to our full potential.

Let Go of Control and Limiting Beliefs

One of the areas where I see leaders most stifle their own and their team’s growth by failing to let go is when it comes to delegating. I was recently working with a group of leaders around multiplying their impact through effective delegation. When asked to reflect on what holds them back from delegating the responses included statements like:

• It’s faster if I do it myself
• I feel guilty. I don’t want to burden my team
• Delegating makes me feel less valuable
• They might do it wrong or make a mistake
• They won’t do it the way I would

All of these statements are more about mindset or beliefs than about skill set. And this group of leaders is not unique. The small business owners I work with in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program also struggle with limiting beliefs that prevent them from delegating and prevent their businesses from growing.

While skill set is certainly a part of effective delegation, the main reason leaders struggle with delegating has much more to do with beliefs than skills. Until those beliefs are identified and reframed, delegation will be a challenge, and growth will be stifled.

Other limiting beliefs or mindsets that I often see leaders hold on too and might benefit from reframing include:

• People perform best when they are closely supervised
• I need to have all the answers
• Conflict is a problem and should be avoided
• I shouldn’t show vulnerability or weakness
• Employees should follow my instruction without question

What limiting beliefs or thoughts might be preventing your growth as a leader, your team’s growth, or the growth of your business? Take a minute to identify one or two and then come up with a reframe that will shift your thinking and your behavior. Here is an example to get you started.

Limiting Belief: It is faster if I do it myself.

Reframe: It may be faster in the short term but by training someone else to do this it will free me up to do higher level work in the future.

Let Go of Doing

Often leaders are promoted because they excelled at doing their job as an individual contributor. The result is they continue to try and do their old job themselves while also attempting to take on their new responsibilities. This prevents both the leader and the person who moved into their old position from growing into their new roles. Growing as a leader requires letting go of the old job and developing a new understanding that success is now about coaching, empowering, and developing their team – not doing.

Let Go of the Past to Flourish in the Future

When, as leaders, we cling to the past and get stuck in transition, we almost guarantee that our teams will do the same. To flourish in the future, we must let go of what no longer serves. In doing so we and our teams will grow in competency, influence, and results.