Is it lonely at the top?

Here's the thing... the way I see it, you're the best leader you can be when you're letting the people you manage every day do their jobs! You hired them thinking they were capable, didn't you? And yet micromanaging is everywhere. If you want it done a certain way, implement a standard. That's fine. But don't try to accomplish the work yourself! If you feel like you've got too much on your plate and not enough time to do it all, take a step back and do the following:

1) Make a list.
This list should include everything you think you have to do. Make it all work-related projects, and make sure it includes even the mundane stuff. If you make the coffee, that should be on there. And then dissect the list. Why do you make the coffee? Is it because you think no one else does it right? How many times a day are you interrupted just to make a pot of coffee, or how often does it interrupt your morning routine?

This is something someone else can be doing for you (and please realize, this is half metaphor, half serious). Pre-measure the coffee for them if you like it stronger/weaker, make sure they use filtered water, etc. What are you doing? You're training them for a task that can be broken down into quality-controlled parts. Now look at the rest of your list. What else on there can you apply this to? Customer care and feedback, account representation, vendor liaising, your web site, etc! Train people to your standards - after all, that's why you're where you are. You are capable of doing the job. Now train someone else and manage their production.

2) Delegate
After you've trained someone to do something, let them go. It's now their job and part of the responsibility they have inherited, based on your judgment. If they fail repeatedly at the task, you may have to re-train or replace them. But don't fall into the trap of "I can and would do that better!" Make them better, let them help you/the company. That's what they're there for. Everything on that list up top that can be trained (and again, in a quality-controlled manner) and delegated should be divided up. And you won't believe how it frees up your time.

3) Schedule
Put the Blackberry down unless you are waiting for the biggest sales deal in company history to come through. Make time for email, then stick to it. Maybe a half hour when you come in, 15 minutes before or after lunch, and 15 at the end of the day. Return your phone calls promptly (I recommend returning all your calls first thing in the morning - sales people especially!) and schedule your time for it. Lunch is the WORST time for returning phone calls or expecting immediate results on anything, which is why it's a good time for email.

If you schedule someone else's time into yours (meetings and the like) please, please be on time! In fact, be there 10 minutes early. Be prepared when you arrive, having either looked over notes or at least the meeting's outline. Have a small-talk line to meet someone with on the weather or local events. Avoid politics at all costs. Once you're in the meeting, pay attention! Drop the Blackberry, iPhone, etc while you're there. Don't take notes on it or check email. Use a pen and paper, and make eye contact. I can't tell you how many times I've been interrupted in a meeting by someone who either is returning email or ANSWERS A PHONE CALL! If you think you're important enough for the meeting to wait for you, I have news for you. You're just pissing off the people around you. This includes clients, co-workers, bosses, and janitorial staff. No one thinks you're cool answering your phone during a meeting. I guarantee they're grumbling about you after, if not right at the table while you're on the phone! You'd go a long way towards helping out your office simply by being polite and courteous at meetings. No one wants to be there any longer than they have to. The only exception I'm going to make here is for births and deaths. Otherwise, that's why we all have voicemail. Show respect to everyone else in that meeting.

And consider - it has double the effect if it's a client relationship! No client wants to get big-wheeled by their representative. You always have to make the person in the room with you feel like they are all that matters and they have your full attention... because then you will gain their confidence and trust. Down the road, when you hit a rough patch, you'd better have it. Because then they will listen to you when you beg them to stick it out. Otherwise, you may have written your own ticket already when you didn't pay attention in the first place. People buy from people they trust. PERIOD.

4) Mix it up and make it fun
Most of the people who work a job do so more for the fact that you have to work to survive as opposed to having a burning passion for HR or customer retention. I know, you tell yourself you have that burning passion, so why not everyone else? Well, honestly, not everyone will share your fire. That doesn't make them bad employees, or incapable, or ignorant. It means that part of managing them includes making them want to come to work for more reasons than a paycheck. Mix it up, throw in random drawings for things like sports and concert tickets, even a free lunch with the boss for a job well done. People appreciate little pats on the back that take no time or effort. Heck, even if you bring in a half-gallon of ice cream on a Friday afternoon and some plastic bowls and spoons, you're a hero. It cost you maybe $5 and 15 minutes of bend and stretch time. People blow more time than that surfing the web or checking email. At least now they're interfacing with you and each other, and you've just sent them back to their cubes with a smile. The production is worth it, trust me.

5) Respect the people you work with
Whether it's keeping the radio at a reasonable volume between 9 and 11, making sure there's enough coffee, or being on time for meetings, you have to treat each employee in the best possible way. Without them, you wouldn't have a company! Let them do their jobs, help them enjoy it, and when it's time to devote your attention to them, give it to the fullest. Train them, be a mentor, and then ask them for suggestions! You won't believe how that will also foster good will and enable possible solutions to long-standing problems. If you're the boss who can make it happen, you will have a herd of happy people on your staff.

It all filters both ways. Happy workers = more production, people enjoying where they are, working harder and better, and you getting feedback that leads to streamlining, cost-cutting, and a better bottom line.