In this third episode in the Self Storage Leadership Series, I want to talk about a trait an effective Leader has that has always been elusive to me… The Art of Delegation.
I call it an art because it requires almost an intuitive skill, in my humble opinion. I believe this because, in my experience, there are so many variables involved that it is hard to quantify who will be the best person to delegate to.
Why Delegation Is So Critical
As we discussed in the Team Building Episode, our success is largely determined by the people we put in place to support us.
Our knowledge and bandwidth are only so wide, and if we have to design and implement everything involved in launching and running a self storage project or business, we will only go so far.
We can only do so much.
Yes, I know, for many of us, no one can do things as well or care as much as we do (I hear this a lot), but it always occurs as a justification for control instead of a valid reason.
I genuinely believe that our thinking and beliefs are the ceilings, limiting what is possible for us in life. I think there is no greater limiting belief for an entrepreneur than the belief that I have to oversee or handle most everything in my business because no one will do it or care as much as I do.
Not that that is wrong nor not valid, it just limits what is possible. As Leaders, our companies will only get as big as one person’s ability to do things.
I see it over and over.
I have done this over and over.
If you want one or two facilities where you create a job for yourself, this mindset will not be that damaging, although it will slow down growth and limit how productive your facility may become.
If you are trying to grow a large self storage company or portfolio, this mindset can be fatal.
The Art of Delegation
So, where do we start with this idea of effective delegation?
Exactly where we did with team building. The right people.
The Right People
Team building, delegation, and what we are discussing next week all start with the right people in the right places. Many business books call it “the right butts in the right seats.”
Let’s use facility managers as an example. Now I know it is “hard to find good employees” today, I don’t want to downplay this idea, but the reality is, it is always challenging.
But at least for our companies, I never ceased to be amazed at the ownership most people who work for us take. Sometimes I wonder what motivates someone to be as good as they are and have no ownership in the project?
I believe it starts with being clear about what you are looking for in an employee.
There is no correct answer here, and it is all a function of the company you want to build.
When we take over a facility that the previous owner micromanaged, these employees generally do not do well in our company. Almost to a person, we have had to let them go.
We are looking for people who can make decisions, have empathy, and be trained to sell and don’t think “selling” is bad.
In many ways, hiring someone who “knows about self storage” as a manager is not necessarily a good thing for us. These other qualities are much more important to me. What there is to know about self storage can be taught.
When trying to find the right vendors to work with, I look for responsiveness, and I have to continually follow up with them on tasks to ensure they are being done.
It becomes much harder for me to delegate tasks out to a group or someone I don’t have confidence in that the task will be done promptly.
We have had to replace many vendors during projects, from engineers to erectors.
Right Direction
This is 100% on us as the owners of our companies.
It is upon us to create the right direction and instructions for our team members to follow—clear instructions with timelines and accountabilities (more on accountabilities in a minute).
In my training, I tell people I am working with that if there is a task, no matter who does it (remember, most of us are the ones who start or are the ones doing things), and you do this task more than once a month, either write down the procedure or video it.
There is a lot of easy-to-use screen capture software that easily creates videos of how you do things on the computer.
Start an operations manual or a self storage development manual that you use and refer to and direct others to use.
In this way, you are creating a systems-oriented business, not a personality or people-oriented business.
How many of us have seen storage owners, as we are looking at facilities, that have zero clue what to do if their manager got sick, quit, or got fired?
You don’t want your business to be dependent upon you or someone else.
My coaching is for you to prepare, assume, and even strive for the day you will delegate every aspect of running your business to someone else. If you create the systems, structure, and plan for that event, your business will be running smoother, be more valuable, and have, for the most part, hired and associated with better people.
Not to mention the fact most of us get in this business because of the “freedom” we perceive being in self storage will make possible for us.
Allow Room for Mistakes
For many of us, one of the most challenging parts of effective delegation is the mental process of knowing “they can’t do it as well as I can,” but I am going to delegate anyway.
If this is you, start by delegating the task you are not good at, then move on to the task you are good at.
Know that even you make mistakes. So, it is unreasonable to assume employees or vendor team members will not make mistakes.
I know a father who every day asked his daughter as she was growing up going to school, “what mistakes did you make today?” celebrating the fact she was out there trying new things and growing.
Do you think this woman today has a strong relationship to any mistakes she makes? Do you think she is disempowered by them or learns and grows from them?
Don’t be afraid of yourself or your team members making mistakes. Just know you and they will. Mistakes are how we all grow.
It is the learning from the mistakes that is so important—not making the same mistakes over and over as most people do in life.
I know this may sound phony or silly, but almost nothing is more fulfilling to me than seeing people who work for us grow professionally and personally. That only happens by creating an environment where they can stretch themselves and not be afraid of making a mistake.
More times than not, they are harder on themselves than we are. As Owners, we don’t want to step over the mistakes but rather use them as learning and improving moments. We also don’t want them to have lots of zeros after them.
So, the art of this concept is to have clear guidelines on what people can and can’t do. How far someone can go. Again, our managers know they have up to one month’s rent that can be used, as they think needed, in order to close a deal.
Sometimes this was a free first or second month, a partial month, a U-Haul truck, putting a light in a unit (a battery-powered light we sell), etc.
Anything more, they had to call a partner or supervisor.
Clear guidelines.
Now we didn’t start that way. Just like the employees, we as owners had to learn how to be better delegators through our mistakes.
Delegate Not Abdicate (Supervision)
Now for micro managers, this is not an issue. But for me, this is where I have had to make the most improvement.
Like I said with vendors, often I am disappointed because I expect something to be done by them at a specific time and a certain standard, and often that is not what happens in reality.
Then I am mad at them, and either fire them or have a conversation mainly generated by an emotional reaction on my part.
Finally, as I matured, I began looking over here on this side of the issue to see what I am doing or not doing that causes this situation. If I take the stand (not like it is the truth, but because I am the only person I can have control over) that I am 100% responsible for what happens to me in my life, I eventually have to look at myself.
I saw that it didn’t matter, a vendor, employee, partner, kid, or even my wife, when I “turned something over” to them. In my world, it was off my plate and now on theirs.
I finally realized this is not delegation. This is an abdication, and abdication doesn’t work.
Today, I try to set up structures to (1) make sure the expatiations on my part are clear, and the person I am delegating to understands and agrees that the expatiations are reasonable. In other words, there is buy-in from them. If not, we negotiate.
Then (2) I set up my computer usually, milestones and set times to check in and see progress or measure progress.
Managers, when I was managing them, I would have monthly or quarterly meetings to go over the KPIs (key performance indicators) that we had set up ahead of time to measure their performance.
They knew what they were because we created them together (usually me leading the conversation). Then it was clear, either a yes or no, if the KPIs were met or exceeded. If they were not, what was missing, and what can we do as owners to help them achieve them?
This part of effective delegation has been the hardest and most time-consuming for me to develop.
It also made the most difference in effective delegation for me.
So, if you want to grow as a Leader and grow or scale your self storage company, the art of delegation is a critical skill set to develop as an effective Leader.
Work on yourself as a Leader and watch your self storage company grow.
