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If you are looking to be more effective and intentional with your time, and, ultimately, elevate yourself to a higher level of leadership, you are probably discovering that the delegation is becoming essential.

Delegating tasks on your endless to-do list is a necessary reality if you’re going to free themselves to achieve those “big bets” and your long-term goals.

So why can task delegation be a struggle for many leaders?

The answer is simple: It takes time and effort. It’s tempting to avoid it altogether.

If you hear yourself saying, “It would be easier to just do this myself,” think again. Remember those big goals of yours! You won’t achieve them if you’re trapped in the day-to-day minutiae. Instead, let’s look at an approach to delegation that can get you the support you need to succeed.

Broken down, delegation also means training others to do the task that you need done.

You may need to confront your own insecurities about quality control here; the person to whom you delegate may not do the task as well as you do. That’s okay. They don’t need to do it as well as you, and they don’t need to do it the same way as you. They just need to get it done – and by the way, if you choose selectively, you will be giving them the opportunity to stretch and grow as they do.

You may also need to calm your fears about whatever cleanup may be ahead if things go badly. Delegation runs the risk of failure. No wonder that cautious side of you wonders again if it wouldn’t just be better to do the task yourself. But be strong – the likelihood of failure is far less if you take responsibility for helping the people to whom you delegate to do the task well. In fact, if you teach them thoroughly and coach them along the way, you may free yourself from the task for good, as you will have trained a capable other to do the task in your place.

It bears repeating: If you insist on doing every task on your list yourself, you’ll never rise above the level of your to do list. You’ll always be doing the same work.

Mastering the skill of delegation is what can free you to rise to the next level.

Here’s a handy technique to get you started. The next time you need to delegate tasks, just remember this method: the ODC. An ODC is a message you deliver to the person who will do a task.

• The “O” stands for Outcome. What outcome are you trying to achieve?
• The “D” stands for Deadline. When you want to the task to be done?
• The “C” is for “Clarification.” What detailed directions can you provide, and what questions do you and your task-doer need to discuss?

Here’s an example of ODC in action. You have traditionally planned the end-of-the-year party for your team, but this year you’re focused on delivering a high-impact client engagement and don’t want to take time away from this critical project. You choose Michael, the new coordinator on your team, to take on the party.

You’re ready to delegate.

Promising yourself that you will let Michael do things his way, and promising Michael that you will do everything you can to help him succeed, you launch the ODC.

“Michael, I would love to have you take on this new project. The outcome is to have the final end-of-the-year party planned for our team, and we want to have it completed by June 10^th. What questions do you have, Michael? And, before you start, let me show you some of the criteria that we want to use.”

It’s an easy, quick reminder of how to transfer information from your brain into someone else’s. You don’t have to talk Michael through all of the details. You don’t have to explain to him what last year’s party looked like, you don’t have to give him all of your files, unless Michael wants them. You can trust Michael to do things his way. He knows the outcome, he knows the deadline, he’s had a chance to ask questions, and you’ve given him enough detail.

Now if you check in with Michael every other day to make sure he’s on track and keep giving him the opportunity to ask questions, he will have taken on the whole project. You have one giant piece of work delegated to someone else, and you are free to concentrate on something bigger. Michael gets a new opportunity, and guess what: you do, too. The whole thing is as easy as remembering “ODC.”

For more strategies to take control of your time and cultivate better personal leadership skills, see Joelle’s book: The Inner Edge.

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Mastering the art of networking is one thing – but using it to grow your business is a whole other level.

So may books and articles have been written on how to network effectively, and if you want it, you can access a lifetime’s worth of advice on how to connect with others. But although connecting with people is certainly a nice thing to do, at some point it can feel futile. There are only so many names you can collect; only so many events to attend.

If you really want to take your networking to the next level, you’ll need to approach it in a way that ultimately leads to business growth. To do that, the best thing you can do is show people who you are. Give them the experience of you.

This goes beyond your elevator pitch. Ideally, you do have an elevator pitch and have crafted it to represent who you really are. But that’s just the first step. After all, in your elevator pitch you’re simply telling people who you are. In next-level networking, you also show them.

If you’re an executive coach, for example, instead of chitchatting with new connections, look for opportunities to ask genuinely helpful coaching questions.

If you’re a resource who provides a valuable service, pose thought provoking, reflective questions or point people to something that might be helpful for them to read, related to something that’s important to them.

To get away from the superficial connection and into a real conversation, move from telling people what you do, and just do that for them. Forget about trying to get business from them; rather, just be you and show them how you can help.

All of this helps you connect with people in a more impactful way – one that helps you express what you care about and make the impact you’re striving to achieve.

If you want to set yourself apart in your networking, I advocate for going in with a thoughtful, reflective plan. Organize what you’re thinking before you go into any networking situation:

• Ask these universal questions, in order: Who, why, what, how and what if?
• Ask yourself who you would really like to connect with. Follow up that question with why you want to know them, and what you want to ask them to make a connection.
• Determine how you want to open the conversation. Choose one really good question that you’re comfortable delivering and is also meaningful to you and the people you meet. For example, “Tell me about your practice and how you got to be as successful as you are?”
• Finally, imagine what kinds of interesting things might happen if all goes well. What if you find a meaningful connection with exactly the right type of person? What is the ideal outcome for you, and for them? Thinking about this ahead of time will focus your efforts.

If you know what you’re going to ask, it takes down the exhaustion factor immediately, and you’ll ultimately come off as much more genuine. More importantly, you’ll learn to embrace your story, and learn about others’ stories, in a more powerful way.

Shy? Get more of Joelle’s networking strategies from her recent article in The Oprah Magazine.

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At an event recently, a businessman walked up to me with his business card in hand. He smiled and winked, handed me his card, and delivered his slick elevator pitch in one clearly practiced motion. I thought, “Ick.” 

My next thought was, “Yikes – I hope when I introduce myself at a networking event, people don’t think, “Ick!”

The Ick Factor in networking is directly related to one avoidable thing: insincerity. To the businessman winking his way over to me, I seemed like a “prospect.” Certainly his approach made me feel like one. I was a target, and getting me to take some kind of action to his benefit was seemingly the goal.

You can avoid the Ick Factor and make sure people respond well to your outreach by dropping the façade and bringing something far more meaningful to the conversation: you. 

I believe that businessmen and businesswomen are most successful in their networking when they’re truly genuine, and when they think of networking as building strong relationships with people they care about over the things they value.

Otherwise networking is too transactional. People fail at networking when they start with the task of achieving something – “I need to get a job,” “I need to make this ask of somebody,” “I need to get a client.” They succeed when they seek to build deep relationships with people they really genuinely care about.

Researchers have observed that men and women tend to network differently – another element of networking you can use to refine your approach and genuinely connect with others. They note that women tend to lead their networking with a focus on relationships. They will talk to people in a way that’s about getting to know them, and ask questions like what brought them to the event. Women will use that as a foundation for eventually transitioning into a business conversation.

In those same studies, men are shown to lead with business. They are more likely to start by asking someone about their profession, and what they’re hoping to accomplish at the event. And then, if they identify common interests they will evaluate the relationship as one to move forward with at that point.

With that in mind, whether you’re networking with a man or woman, one way that you can master networking very quickly is to let other people lead the conversation just long enough to understand which angle they’re coming from. If the person in front of you opens with a relationship-forming question (“Have you been involved with this organization long?” “Are you front this area?” “What does your lapel pin mean?”), ask a relationship-forming question back, If the person opens with a business-type question (“So, what do you do?” “What brings you to this conference?” “How do you define success?”), ask a business-oriented question back. You will be starting the conversation with the focus where it should be: on the person with whom you’re starting to connect.

Essentially, by deciding which of the two approaches a new acquaintance takes, you can actually control the conversational outcomes much better, and ultimately, make stronger connections that make networking more worthwhile.

Read more about Joelle’s views on networking in Oprah Magazine. For more resources on effective networking and other leadership coaching materials, see Joelle’s recent books and articles.

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Do you ever feel exhausted by all the things you have to do? Being busy “doing” burns us out, it scatters our brains, and ultimately it keeps us from being productive because we are simply too exhausted to focus.

An alternative to “doing” is to practice “not doing.” Practicing not doing is about stopping the busy-ness – putting it down, taking a break, getting focused and choosing a new path.

Let’s examine the art of not doing one piece at a time.

What does it mean to stop? Imagine you are in the middle of a busy day – you have your to-do list, your meetings, your calendar, your email – so many things to do, so many pressures, and you know you’re never going to get it all done. Imagine if, just for the moment, you closed up shop, and walked away. What does it look like for you? Maybe it’s simply walking into another room and sitting quietly for a moment.

The first step is to break the connection and stop doing, even if just for a moment, so you can get some perspective.

The second step is to get focused. Getting focused means remembering the single-most important thing you should be doing. What’s essential? Asking yourself what your priority is will help you quiet the demands on your time, both internal and external, and focus on the one thing that matters most to you.

So now you’ve stopped the busy-ness, you’ve gotten focused again – now you can move forward to the third step – moving forward. Moving forward means clearing the desk and getting out a fresh sheet of paper, with a fresh mindset to match, and redefining how you use your time.

With this strategy you’ll find that a lot of things that were taking your time share, and mind share, before will fall away – because now you are focused on the number one most important thing.

When you practice not doing, you can breathe again. You can focus on your most important goals and you can finally stop the busy-ness. You’ll feel re-energized, you’ll feel excited again and you’ll be more effective than ever. All it takes is three steps: Stop the doing, get focused and move forward. 

For more ways to improve your personal leadership and gain more control over your time and productivity, see Joelle’s book: The Inner Edge: The 10 Practices of Personal Leadership.