I thought delegation was weak until my crew almost quit on me

After running my tree service solo for 5 years, I had a 12 maple job where I tried to do everything myself and ended up dropping a 400 pound limb on a customer's fence. It took my foreman calling me out in front of the whole crew to realize I was the bottleneck making everyone's day harder. Anyone else slowly learn that letting go of control actually makes the whole team better?

3 comments

3 Comments

park.robin24d ago

Dig into that moment more - what exactly did your foreman say that finally got through to you? I'm curious if it was the words themselves or the way he said it in front of everyone that made it click. Because I've seen guys get called out before and just get defensive, but you actually took it and changed. Was there something about his delivery or your relationship with him that made you listen?

murphy.barbara23d ago

Take the opposite side here - it probably wasn't the words, just the embarrassment that scared him straight.

piper91221d ago

Embarrassment is a hell of a teacher, ain't it?