It doesn’t matter if you’re the owner or senior leader of a company, managing a large sales team, or leading a small group, chances are someone is piling extra tasks onto your plate. These extra tasks are often referred to as the "monkey on your back."
Imagine you're walking through the office, and one of your team members approaches you with a problem: "XYZ Roofing is 60 days overdue. I’ve tried reaching the owner, but they’re not returning my calls. I know you know them; could you try getting in touch?"
As a leader, you’ve got a choice. In a classic 1974 article in the Harvard Business Review, "Who's Got the Monkey?" authors William Oncken, Jr., and Donald L. Wass explain how overburdened leaders allow their employees to delegate upwards. When you take on an unsolved problem from your team, you let that monkey jump from their back to yours. The more monkeys you carry, the further you get from your own priorities, and you miss opportunities to develop your team.
Effective leaders can’t allow their team's problems to become their own. Once it’s yours, they no longer own the responsibility. You can guide and advise, but the follow-through should remain with them. These monkeys often seem harmless, and it feels easier to take care of it yourself. But these distractions will prevent you from achieving your key objectives.
A monkey transfers to you the moment you accept responsibility for it. It could be an unpaid bill, an angry customer, a negotiation, artwork approval, or researching a task for someone else. Individually, these may seem small, but taking on two or three a day will pile up and divert you from what you're supposed to be doing.
Before you think this doesn’t apply to you, ask yourself: Do you often feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day? Worked hard all week but left things on your to-do list undone? Maybe you’re taking on other people’s monkeys.
Ask yourself these questions:
1. Do people often ask for your help in getting their tasks done?
2. Do you find it hard to say "no"?
3. By the end of the week, do you realize you’ve over-committed?
4. Do you volunteer for things only to regret it later?
5. Do you feel you’re too nice to say no?
If you answered "yes" to three or more, you’re carrying too many monkeys. It’s time to refuse problems that your team is trying to push upward. The person closest to the issue usually has the ability to solve it. Empower them with guidance and perspective, and they’ll gain the skills they need to become more valuable to the team.
