It’s important to remember that no matter where you go in the world, 60 minutes is one hour. However, 60 minutes of mundane clerical work is very different to 60 minutes of focused CEO time.
If a CEO is spending an hour doing admin, isn’t he just a glorified clerk?
But this can all change with the ‘70% Rule’
Simply put, if someone is able to do a task at least 70% as well as you can, then you should delegate.
While it may be hard to let go of your need for perfection or your belief that your way is the correct way, you need to weigh the benefit of having a task less perfectly completed by someone else, affording you more time to focus on higher impact projects.
A shift in mind-set
The first and most important shift is extending trust to your staff; understanding that it may be completed differently to your method (but hey if it’s done right does it really matter?); and letting go of your perfection complex, meaning do things need to be completed, or completed your way?
What’s more, the freedom you give your team to complete a task may result in a better way being found.
True, some tasks cannot be done anything less than 100%, and those shouldn’t be delegated, but rather transferred with the right support, training and oversight. For the rest, get delegating.