Chapter 11: Delegating
"If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate."
– John C. Maxwell
Sharing III
The day after Ladybug became the official guardian, Marinette broke.
Losing Master Fu, being responsible for it, being the new guardian, and everything else that was going on was too much!
So for the next two days, she laid in the bed, curled around the new box in a state of panic. When friends called or texted her, she told them she was sick. When Luka called, she told him she needed a few days to herself. Her parents were gone on an anniversary trip so Marinette was indeed all by herself... with the kwamis.
The kwamis were worried about their new guardian when she hadn't moved for hours, but after encouragement from Tikki, they surrounded Marinette in a big kwami hug.
"You're going to be a great guardian, Marinette." Tikki whispered the afternoon of the second day.
Marinette shook her head. "I don't know, Tikki. That's such a big role to fill and I was already struggling before. How am I supposed to go to school, do homework, have friends, have a boyfriend, design, patrol, fight Hawkmoth, protect the box, lead the team, and choose new holders all by myself? That's insane!"
"If I may?" Marinette turned her head a little to see Sass, the snake kwami, hovering closer. She knew he was generally quiet unless he had something too important to say so she nodded for him to continue. "Guardian, being our protector is a heavy burden to bear indeed. We watched as our last master suffered under the weight of doing it all by himself. There would be nothing wrong with giving your burdens to another."
Marinette's eyes widened. "You think I should give up being Guardian? Or being Ladybug?"
Sass quickly shook his head. "Of course not. I, for one, can see that you are capable of being an amazing guardian and are the best Ladybug in recent history."
"In millennia!" corrected Tikki.
"What I am suggesting is that... A good leader knows when to lead, when to seek help, and when to delegate responsibilities. Master Fu did so when he gave you Tikki and Chat Noir Plagg. You can do the same."
Marinette chewed on her lip. "That wouldn't be too risky?"
"It would depend on how you choose to do it. But everything does not have to rest on your shoulders alone. A good decision may be to find others who can help you carry the load."
As the wisdom in his words sunk in, Marinette took a second to gather her thoughts. Delegating tasks and authority would require a lot of trust on her end. She would be putting the safety of Paris and the kwamis in the hands of others, so she had to make sure that those she chose were people she could trust to always do what was right.
"Okay."
For the first time in days, Marinette got out of bed to go to her desk so she could make a plan of action.
First: she would hand out certain miraculous to permanent users. They needed more heroes responding to attacks and crises than just her and Chat. If they already had their miraculous, the others would be able to respond faster instead of just waiting on her. On her short list were Alya as Rena, Nino as Carapace, and Luka as Viperion since they'd been on the team the longest and Marinette was sure she could trust them with her life.
Second: she'd involve the whole team in planning more. As of now, she was the sole idea person but that was because she insisted on taking the lead more often than not. She realized she could and should take a backseat and let others lead so that her team could grow and flourish and function without her.
Third: she wanted to do planned team meetings on a regular basis. This piggybacked off her second idea. She wanted the team more involved in their proactive duties so they would have to meet up and discuss ideas and plan a schedule for patrolling. If everyone had a set time- and a backup just in case- for patrolling, this would free up a lot of Marinette's - as well as Chat's- personal time in their civilian forms. The meetings could also be used as training time for any new users and methods of fighting off negative emotions that would draw akumas in.
Fourth- which would actually have to happen first: Ladybug needed to sit down and discuss all of these plans with Chat. Seeing the alternative timeline where he had been akumatized had scared her. It had made her doubt how much she could trust him with and how close she could get to him. But being afraid was silly. Chat was still the annoyingly loveable kitten she'd always known and cared for. He trusted her implicitly and always had her back and she had to be the same for him, no matter what. A what-if shouldn't ruin the amazing friendship and bond they had developed over countless battles together. So Marinette decided they'd be closer to co-leaders. Of course, everything wouldn't be equal. Only she could be the guardian, which meant there were specific jobs and tasks only she could do, but she could trust him with more. Make him more of an equal partner in truth instead of just in words.
Marinette found that just having all these plans written down made her shoulders feel lighter. Her chest had been so tight that it had been hard to breathe, but she could now finally take a deep breath. "Thank you, Sass."
"It was my pleasure, Guardian. We can only succeed if you're at your best: mentally, physically, and emotionally."
Marinette couldn't help but smile. "Luka was the right pick for you: you're both wise and calming."
"Which shows you are a great leader since you chose him as my permanent holder, Guardian."
"Thanks Sass."