What I Learned From Oprah About Delegation

If you want to really get a lot done in life or at work, one skill stands out: being able to get others to do what you want — better known as the art of delegation.

One of the times I was on the Oprah show, during a commercial break I asked Oprah how she managed to get so much done. After all, at the time I knew she had a daily TV show, a radio show, a magazine, and she sat on the board of something like 50 different charities. “How can you possibly do it all?” I asked.

Oprah smiled and said, “Early in my career I saw I had to choose between being a crazy busy control freak, or getting good at delegating. So I chose to be a crazy busy control freak — and that practically led to a nervous breakdown — so having done that, I worked at getting good at delegating. Now I delegate just about everything. Someone chooses what I wear, cooks my food, helps write my speeches, makes sure I exercise; it’s a much more relaxed way to live life.”

Like Oprah, most of us only learn to delegate once we hit our personal wall. We fail to become good at delegating either because we want to control everything, or we don’t have enough money to pay others to do some of our work. Yet, trying to do everything yourself is not a recipe for success or for enjoying life.

Highly productive people delegate as much as possible. They delegate tasks they’re…