Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: Let Somebody Else Do It

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it teaches us that sometimes it costs less to let somebody else do it.

I tend to do the grocery shopping in my family. Typically, that involves a plan and a routine that I am comfortable with, and it results in visiting two or three stores every couple of weeks to get the different things that we need. I enjoy that time (I know, I’m a little weird) because I am an analytical introvert, so this process of being alone with my thoughts while selecting and organizing the things we need meets some of my personal recharging needs.

But recently, for the sake of time, I used the online ordering and scheduling that was available in the apps for the stores where I was doing my shopping to order what I needed online, so that I could drive to the stores to pick it up curbside. In this particular season, with other things that I needed to do, it was a much better use of my time. As I was waiting at the curbside pick up spot for the store employee to bring my order out to me, I was reminded of something my dad used to say. My dad was mechanically inclined, and both skilled and experienced in a lot of things, so he could manage almost anything that had to be taken care of around the home, and he usually did. But at times, he would pay somebody else to do something, and then would tell me that sometimes it would cost him less to have somebody else do it so that his time could be used in a more profitable way. My wife has often said a similar thing, reminding me of the value of delegating to other people the things that they can do that save me time, so that I can use my time for the things that I need to do to earn a living for my family. When I allow myself to do that, the result is that it’s often done better, uses my time better, and ironically saves us money in the long run.

This is a great lesson for your leadership. Just because you are responsible for everything doesn’t mean that you are responsible to do everything. As a matter, fact, you can’t do everything… at least, not well. Other people have skills that you don’t have, and the skills that you do have need to be what you invest in for your work and your people. By allowing other people to do what they do well, you get to use your strengths, they get to use theirs, and your time is much better spent, which is a benefit to you and your organization.

So the lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from my willingness to use an online ordering service rather than spending a lot more time in a store, is a valuable one. In Exodus 18, Moses’ father-in-law pointed out to him the problem of trying to do all the work himself when he could serve the people better and more efficiently by sharing the load and delegating responsibility. The point was that if he would do that, it would cost him less – less time, less inefficiency, less frustration, and less likelihood of burnout – which, in turn, would be much more profitable. Because sometimes, it costs less to let somebody else do it.