Hey all,

One of the things I've noticed about myself is that I'm a responsibility hog. I tend to hold responsibility for most things that come into my sphere as mine to carry. I'm sure you could see how this might present an issue.

While I've gotten immensely better about this over the last 5 or so years.... sometimes it's still my default. I still, even to this day, need to pause and force myself to make conscious choices about what I take on as mine. Every. Single. Day.

That's part of our role as mission driven leaders.

Especially those of us with a save the world mentality it can be really really tough to let something go and allow for someone else to take the wheel. Because it MATTERS. The outcome matters, the approach matters to the long term success - and it can sometimes be painful to release those reigns.

And even though my default tendencies creep in, I'm continually reminded of the importance of me being fed. Me showing up whole and engaged in the work I do. Something that cannot happen when I hold all the balls all the time.

Of course the job I do when I'm in driven, hold all the balls mode is efficient and effective in the short term BUT it comes at the cost of alienating the people I care most about and the danger of dropping balls that are important to me. Negatively affecting not just my reputation and my self-image but also the cause I'm fighting so hard for. Not to mention I end up robbing my team of the empowerment and trust they so deserve.

So next time you notice yourself at the precipice of taking on another responsibility, ask yourself these questions:

1. "Where is my capacity at?"
2. "How realistic is it for me to own this responsibility?"
3. If the answer is that you're capped then ask "Who can take this on?" "How vital is it that this be done now - by me or someone else vs at a later point?" "What can we de-prioritize or allow to be easier so we can create bandwidth to address this need?"

Love and juice,

Corey Blake

​