Are you stuck in the weeds of your business? Do you struggle to focus on the big stuff because you are constantly pulled into firefighting and the rush of day-to-day responsibilities?
This issue often sits near the top of the list for leaders that I speak with, and for good reason. You can’t grow if you can’t let go.
There are lots of reasons why you end up in the weeds, and I’ve got a simple EOS Tool that will help you get out and stay out.
It’s called the Delegate and Elevate Tool.
Increase Your Capacity by Delegating & Elevating
One of the biggest reasons leaders get stuck in the minutiae of a business is capacity. You’re maxed out. Even the things you used to enjoy start to feel like a chore, burnout begins to zap your love for the work you do, and you lose sight of your ideal life as a leader, whether Visionary or Integrator.
This is where the Delegate and Elevate Tool shines.
At EOS Worldwide, we teach that once you’ve hit 100% capacity, whatever that looks like for you, it’s time to Delegate and Elevate based on your Personal Core Focus.
How Delegate & Elevate Works
In your notebook or on your phone, make a list of everything you do in a day. Take a complete inventory over a week or two. Make a straightforward, long list of everything that takes up your time.
Create your Delegate and Elevate Quadrants. It should have four areas for you to start categorizing these tasks:
Don’t Like It / Not Good at It
This is the stuff that drains your energy and leaves you feeling frustrated or stuck. You don’t enjoy it, and you’re not particularly skilled at it, so the results of your efforts are often sub-par or uninspired. These tasks eat up more time and mental energy than they should because they don’t align with your strengths. Often, these are things you’ve been “voluntold” to do or inherited because no one else wanted them. The truth? Someone else could handle these tasks much better and likely enjoy doing them. The faster you can delegate these, the more time you free up to focus on what you’re truly good at.
Don’t Like It / Good at It
These are the silent energy killers. You’ve developed the skills to do them, maybe even mastered them over time, but they bring you no joy. People keep assigning these tasks to you because you do them well, but every time you tackle them, they feel like a grind. This is where many leaders get stuck because it’s easy to rationalize, “Well, I’m good at this, so I might as well keep doing it.” But over time, these tasks erode your energy and prevent you from spending time on what lights you up. Delegating these isn’t just a luxury, it’s a necessity to prevent burnout.
Like It / Good at It
This is a comfortable place to spend time. You enjoy these tasks, and you’re good at them. They don’t necessarily light you up the way your “Love/Great” tasks do, but they don’t drain you either. Many leaders camp out here because it feels safe and productive. The challenge is that spending too much time in this quadrant can still hold you back from your highest and best contribution. These tasks might not be the ideal use of your time as the visionary or leader of the business. Eventually, you’ll want to delegate more from this category too, freeing up more space for the magic in quadrant four.
Love It / Great at It
These are the tasks that give you energy rather than drain it. When you’re in this zone, time flies, creativity flows, and you deliver exceptional results. It’s the work you’re uniquely equipped, and often born, to do. This quadrant is where you create the most value for your business and your team. The goal of Delegate and Elevate is to design your role so that you spend the vast majority of your time here. When you operate in this space, not only does your performance improve, but your joy and sense of fulfillment soar.
Related Reading: Do More Of What You Love… And Less Of What You Don’t
Get to Work on the Quadrants
Place every item on your list in one of these four quadrants. This should help you understand where you are wasting your most precious resource: your time.
Start figuring out where to delegate everything in the bottom two quadrants, so you can elevate your time to the top two quadrants. Most of the world spends 70% of their time in those bottom two quadrants. Your bottom two quadrants are going to be top quadrants for other people on your team. The goal is to get ruthless about delegating one of those energy-draining tasks each quarter. Then you can repeat every six months to a year and watch the magic happen.
What Can You Delegate?
- Recurring administrative tasks: Scheduling meetings, managing email inboxes, updating spreadsheets
- Day-to-day operational work: Processing invoices, tracking orders, or handling customer service issues
- Low-level problem-solving: Fixing small fires that a capable team member could handle instead of a higher-up
- Routine marketing or reporting: Social media posting, pulling weekly data reports, or formatting presentations
- Work you’ve outgrown: Tasks you mastered years ago but are no longer the best use of your time and energy
Over time, you build a structure, and maybe even add a new seat on your Accountability Chart, so that you’re spending the majority of your time in “Love/Great” doing work that fuels you and propels your business forward.
When you Delegate and Elevate intentionally, you stop clinging to the rope of day-to-day details. You begin working on the business rather than constantly being pulled into it.
Related Reading: The Complete Set of Simple Tools
Stop Doing It All: Start Leading at the Right Level
If you want to build a thriving business, you can’t do it all—and you’re not supposed to. The Delegate and Elevate Tool helps you free up your energy and focus on your highest and best contributions. As a leader, your real job is to set the vision, make key decisions, and empower your team to own the rest.
Ready to get out of the weeds?
Start with the Delegate and Elevate Tool to gain clarity and free up your energy. Then, take the next step. Find an Implementer to guide your team in mastering the EOS Tools that will help you build the business you’ve always wanted.
