Why Trusting Others Frees Up Time

Trust isn't soft. It's a productivity multiplier. And here's the truth about trust... Teams with high trust levels are 50% more productive. When trust is high, work flows. When trust is low, everything slows. I saw this firsthand, leading distributed teams over the past two decades operating as a CDO and PM. When I trusted my leads to make decisions, projects moved quickly, and energy stayed high. But when trust wavered, momentum collapsed into Slack pings, duplicate approvals, and "just to confirm" meetings. What looked like alignment was actually friction. Research in organizational psychology is clear: high-trust environments move faster and deliver better results. Why? ↳ Fewer meetings are needed to double-check work. ↳ Decisions get made, instead of being endlessly revisited. ↳ People feel safe to act, experiment, and take ownership of their outcomes. In other words, trust isn't a "nice to have." It's operational leverage. Leaders who invest in trust earn back time, focus, and creativity from their teams. Can you recall a time when trust transformed your team's performance? If you enjoy posts about building strong systems, finding joy, and creating a life full of agency, I will not let you down. Please follow me here: Michael Rucker, Ph.D.

Letting go is harder than most people admit. You can be the most talented lawyer or business leader in the room, but when it's time to delegate, it feels like giving away something personal. Why? -> Fear of losing control. -> Worry someone else gets the credit. -> Concern the result won’t meet your standards. But here’s what people get wrong: Delegation isn’t just handing off work. It’s passing on trust. If you only delegate the task, but not your trust, don’t be surprised if it falls flat. The trick is matching the work with the right person, not just by title, but by who you trust to do it right. This means: -> Take time to see people’s real strengths -> Stop the “my way or the highway” habit -> Give real responsibility, not just boring tasks Here’s what I’ve learned: Bad delegation is just assigning tasks. Great delegation is letting someone know you believe they might do it even better than you. When you trust them, you free up your own time for what matters most and you give others a chance to shine.

Early in my leadership journey, I thought being a good leader meant doing it all myself. But it didn’t take long to realize that this approach left me overwhelmed and my team underutilized. Learning to delegate wasn’t just a relief—it transformed the team worked together. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞-𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫? Delegation isn’t about offloading tasks—it’s about empowering people. When done right, it: -> Boosts team confidence and skill development. -> Sparks #innovation through fresh perspectives. -> Frees leaders to focus on big-picture strategies. Teams led by effective delegators are 33% more productive, while leaders experience 40% less #burnout. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲? 1️⃣ 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤 Before handing off responsibilities, I started evaluating: -> The task’s complexity. -> The skills and strengths of my team members. -> Whether the task offered a growth opportunity. Delegation isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about aligning tasks with people’s potential. 2️⃣ 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 I made sure expectations, timelines, and authority boundaries were crystal clear. Regular check-ins became a way to guide—not micromanage. Clarity and trust go hand in hand. 3️⃣ 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐆𝐨 The hardest part? Letting go of control. I had to accept that my team might approach things differently—and that’s okay. The results often exceeded my expectations. Trusting your team means giving them space to succeed—and sometimes fail. 𝐀𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 -> 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: I learned not to hover over every detail. -> 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤: Instead of rescuing projects, I provided support and guidance. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Since embracing delegation, I’ve seen: -> A team that’s more confident and capable. -> Better-quality deliverables, faster. -> More time to focus on strategic initiatives—and a better work-life balance. Delegation isn’t a sign of weakness—it’s a mark of great leadership. It builds stronger teams and frees leaders to focus on what truly matters. How has #delegation shaped your leadership style? #leadership #micromanagement #employeedevelopement #teamwork

I used to be the person who would jump in and "fix" things when my team hit a roadblock. It felt faster, cleaner, and frankly, I knew I could deliver the result we needed. But I was robbing my team of something crucial: the chance to grow. The shift from "I'll handle it" to "How can I help you handle it?" changes everything. Here's what I've learned about stepping back to develop others: 1. Start with the right question. Instead of "What needs to be done?" ask "Who on my team could benefit from taking this on?" Every challenge becomes a development opportunity when you view it through this lens. 2. Resist the rescue reflex. When someone struggles, our instinct is to jump in. But struggle is where growth happens. Offer guidance, ask probing questions, share resources—but let them work through the solution. 3. Make failure safe. If you're going to delegate meaningful work, you have to accept that it won't always go perfectly. Create an environment where people can experiment, make mistakes, and learn without fear. 4. Celebrate their wins, not your teaching. When someone succeeds after you've developed them, the spotlight should be on their achievement, not your mentoring. This builds their confidence and reinforces that growth mindset. The irony? When you stop doing everything yourself, your team becomes capable of so much more. You free yourself up for higher-level strategic work, and you build a team that doesn't need you to micromanage every decision. What's the hardest part of delegation for you? The time investment upfront, or trusting others with important outcomes? ♻️ Repost to help others in your network and ▶️ Follow me @NicholasColisto for more leadership tips #Leadership #TeamDevelopment #Management #Growth

Delegating doesn’t mean lowering your standards. It means raising your leadership. So many high-performing leaders tell me the same thing:   “No one will do it the way I would.” “It’ll be faster if I just do it myself.” “What if they don’t get it right?”   What they’re really saying is:   “I’m afraid someone else’s version of ‘done’ won’t be as perfect as mine.”   But here’s what I remind them:   You didn’t start leading to do everything. You started to build something bigger.   Delegation isn’t a step back. It’s an expansion forward.   → It’s how your team grows. → It’s how your vision scales. → It’s how you reclaim your time.   Because when everything depends on you that’s not excellence. That’s a bottleneck.   True leadership means letting go of control… So others can rise.   It means creating space for different approaches, even if they don’t match yours.   And it means trusting that done with care and alignment is always more powerful than done alone.   So ask yourself:   → What am I still clinging to out of fear?   → What could shift if I let someone else take the lead?   → What might be possible if I believed in their “perfect” too?   Because your growth as a leader isn’t just in what you build…   It’s in how bravely you let others help build it with you.   So what would shift in your life if you stopped chasing someone else’s perfect, and started trusting your team?

Feet hitting the ground running this Monday, not a moment to waste......it's good to reflect on this one concept: "Who, not how." High-achievers often find themselves leading teams and/or big missions but often go it alone. It's fast-paced—you want to support the team, provide the roadmap, and you think that's your job... But you end up carrying it all on your back, leaving you tired and unfocused on what truly moves the needle. Been there and it is a common theme with the leaders I work with. I often refer back to the book "Who Not How" by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. This book shifts you from asking, "How can I achieve this?" to "Who can help me get there?" ➡ A reset on a few principles can accelerate your path to bigger vision goals: (if you are a one-person show, this can also be used to take an inventory of the support you enlist from your network) -Working with others who have complementary skills leads to greater accomplishments and fosters innovation. Share ideas for more effective solutions. -Build a capable team and focus on what you do best. When everyone operates within their unique abilities, productivity and job satisfaction soar. 📢 Ensure team members are in roles where they can excel. -Delegate tasks to trusted individuals to free up your time for strategic planning and high-impact activities. 📢 Trust is key to allowing you to concentrate on the big picture and future growth. Changing your mindset from "How can I do this?" to "Who can do this for me?" opens up a world of innovative solutions and leveraging others' strengths for greater success. Watch your goals come into view faster. 🚀 What is a recent WHO that you have added that has made a difference to you? #leadership, #mindset, #executive, #coaching

The Hidden Cost of Leaders Who Do It All   Busy leaders often feel they don’t have time to train others because they believe it's faster just to do things themselves.   Many clients tell me, "Training someone takes too long, and they won't do it as well as I can."   This mindset is a trap that leads to endless cycles of overwork and under-delegation.   Imagine this…   You spend 50 hours on tasks you could train someone else to handle.   Initially, it seems quicker to do it yourself.   But think long-term.   What if you could invest a few hours training someone else and then step back?   Consider a small task that takes you 5 minutes every day.   Trivial, right?    But add that up across the year, and suddenly, you've spent over 20 hours on something minor.   What high-value activities could you have pursued with that time?    Maybe coaching your team, developing strategic plans or enhancing client relationships?   Here’s how to do it:   Start small.   Delegate low-stakes tasks and gradually increase as your team's confidence grows.   Even if you spend a few hours tweaking their efforts, you save significant time in the long run.   Picture your day from when you wake up to when you head to bed.   Now, imagine that day with several hours freed up.   What does that look like?    What does it feel like?   Imagine the possibilities when you stop doing it all yourself.    Ready to reclaim your time?    Let's talk.   Book a call. #executivecoaching #executivesandmanagement #leadership #management