There are moments in your career that stick with you, this is one that taught me a significant lesson, and shaped how I manage myself and those around me for the better.

Late one evening, after an unusually long and frustrating day I was leaving the office and boarded the elevator with our CEO, Ed Scanlan. "How are you?" he asked... a sigh of exhaustion and dark circles under my eyes answered for me. Before I could speak he said; "You should take some time off , we do not want to see you getting burned out."

"I know I should" I replied, and explained like an excuse; that there was too much work to be done, and who would take care of things in my absence?

He looked at me and said; "Everyday when you come into work, you should try to do no work at all."

I looked at him laughed, in amazement that my Boss just told me not to do any work, looked at him and said; "What?"

"Don't laugh... It's harder than you think!" he seriously replied. He explained that everyday when I come in to the office, my job should be to give every task, project or question that does not have to absolutely be done or answered by me to someone else on my team. He said that as long as I kept doing all the work myself, the team as a whole would not be able to stand on their own, and that I should think about that. The elevator opened and I went home, with Ed's words still echoing in my ears.

The next day I came into the office and for the first time in my life, tried to do "no work." Believe me, it is much harder than you think.  I began handing tasks off to my staff, with that came with questions, mix ups and confusion, but all of these things were necessary to move our team and business forward. After 2 months of handing off all non-Chelsey critical work, I was able to take a 2 week vacation with no phone or email access. Something I had never been able to do before, even when I owned my own business. But what was even better, was the team grew into these new responsibilities and even had suggestions for efficiency, cost reduction and process!

I still struggle with delegating, but take each day one at a time. Here are some questions I ask myself each day to help me "Do no work at all."

1. "What is one thing I did not need to do today?"

2. "What is one thing I could have given to a staff member today?"

3. "What did I do well today?"

When you start asking yourself these questions, pay attention, even track your responses. You'll notice patterns in your behavior, try to focus on doing more of what you are good at, and pass off tasks that others can handle. Weaknesses and Strengths will appear in yourself and staff, don't let this scare you, use this opportunity to improve, one day at a time, and your company and self will thank you for it.

Your turn! What helps you delegate more?