Thrashing around getting nowhere fast – an alternative perspective on management

As a swimming machine a dolphin is about sixty five percent efficient, Michael Phelps arguably the greatest human swimmer of all time is about eight percent. Ninety two percent of his effort is lost to friction and turbulence.

This post is about management not swimming though stick with me, there is a connection.

As a moderately successful triathlete, I won some races and represented GB in the early nineties, my self taught approach to swimming was to swing my arms and kick my legs as hard as I could to stay afloat and move forward, it wasn’t pretty. If Phelps is eight percent efficient I was probably much less than one percent.

As the years passed I started to slow so I tried harder and harder. I was thrashing around going nowhere fast. Approaching fifty years old, one day I pushed myself so hard to maintain my mile time that when I got out I keeled over in the changing room. From that low point I decided to start all over again and learn proper technique, which I have been doing now for the last eight years. My technique is now deliberately effortless and I can keep going for ever at a decent pace. I don’t know how efficient I am, maybe three percent – which if I am would be four hundred percent better than my old technique, it certainly feels that way.

As a manager, when I had a proper job, I was definitely thrashing around going nowhere fast. My attitude was “if I want something doing right, I had better do it myself” and so with Herculean effort I tried to do everything myself and if it wasn’t working or I didn’t have everything covered I would work harder and put more hours in. This was before e mails, heaven knows how I would do all that and keep on top of the inboxes managers tell me they have nowadays.

I got the job done, though through force of will, huge effort and long hours. Looking back to those days I had long since peaked, burnt out myself and others around me. My approach was not sophisticated.

That was twenty years ago and since then as a coach I have had the privilege of working with and studying great managers and leaders. I have also read a pile of coaching, management, leadership and self-development books. What I have learnt is that the best managers delegate well and those that don’t, struggle with an ever increasing work load, fixate on time management and promise themselves and their families that they are going to sort their work-life balance out. As if there was such a thing.

If Michael Phelps was a manager I am confident he would master delegation as a skill. He doesn’t strike me as the type who would thrash around going nowhere fast. Though at some stage he, presumably, would have to learn how to master delegation.

The other thing I have noticed is there are loads of books and courses on swimming technique though little out there that usefully covers the art of delegation in depth. So a few years ago I created a programme and in a few months will publish my next book “How to Delegate: Master delegation and forget about time management” I am really excited about both programme and book.

If you want to improve your swimming technique you are spoilt for choice though drop me a note (dave@dsabuilding.co.uk) and I will put you in touch with the team that have transformed mine.

If you want to transform yourself as a manager and get your live back then check out my programme at www.delegate4results.com and let me know if you want an advance copy of my book – I will put you on my list and keep you posted.

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