“To be a great leader, you have to learn to delegate well.” So goes the title of Jesse Sostrin’s article in Harvard Business Review (2017) on the shift of leaders from doing to leading. Yes, leading is an actual job and not just a title; it entails a lot of trust in oneself and in the team a leader surrounds himself with.
Delegating is defined as “entrusting a task or responsibility to another person, typically one who is less senior than oneself” and “sending or authorizing someone to do something as a representative.”
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Sounds simple enough, right? The concept is simple and it makes sense, but you’d be surprised to know it can be hard for others to delegate, simply because it requires letting go of control, relinquishing that control to someone who is not on the same level in the organization, and letting them accomplish a task in their own way, not yours.
Delegating challenges the thinking, “If I don’t do it, it won’t get done,” “No one else can do it as well as I do,” and “If someone else does it, I’ll end up cleaning up their mess.” If these statements sound insecure to you, you are not completely wrong. When you dig deeper, you eventually see that the insecurity is not so much a lack of faith in others as it is a lack of faith in oneself.
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Because, really, when you lead, you pick the people who comprise your dream team. If you are not confident in their judgement, skills, and other things they can bring to the table, then why hire them in the first place?
Why IS it hard to delegate?
There are leaders or managers who choose not to delegate because they think it takes a lot of time and effort to explain the task and the strategy behind it to the person they are delegating to. They think it saves them more time (and money) if they do it themselves since they know the brand inside-out, upside down, and in their sleep.
Right? Wrong. Because instead of using time and energy on strategy and other high-ROI tasks, the leader gets bogged down by tactical items.
If you are a leader reading this, do you remember a time when you opened your laptop to do a tactical task thinking, “It’ll just take me an hour,” and then you look up from your laptop realizing 3 hours had passed? Those 3 hours could have gone to networking, establishing leads, and interacting with prospects to finally schedule a pitch.
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When is it better to delegate a task?
A leader is someone who is strategic and has the ability to take a step back, get a “God’s eye view” of the business and its industry, and spearhead projects to make the business grow. It’s important for the leader to set aside time for strategic thinking and come up with new ideas. This is better use of one’s time rather than spending it on a tactical task.
To delegate means to entrust. When you delegate a task to someone else, you make them feel trusted, and they end up feeling empowered. Then once the task is done, after giving constructive feedback, you give them the credit and show appreciation. Imagine what this does to their morale and confidence. Imagine what this does to their performance the next time you delegate a task to them.
Trust empowers. It also fosters ownership and accountability. When you delegate, you are training your people to be a leader as good as (or even better than) you. Wouldn’t that be a great achievement?
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5 questions that will help you decide to delegate a task
Delegating can be tricky because not all employees are created equal or have the same level of empathy for you or your business. To qualify whether a task should be delegated, ask yourself:
When deciding whom to delegate to, consider:
It is also important to remember that when you delegate a task, the person doing the task has his way of doing it, which may be similar to or completely different from yours. Let it go. Focus on the output. Have the humility to admit that your way may not be the only way or the best way. (This means you learn something, too!)
READ: How to make a remote team work for you
Ready to delegate? Here’s how to do it.
Okay, so at this point you may have already realized that there ARE tasks you can probably delegate right after reading this article, but how do you do it so that it won’t cause you and the assignee any unnecessary stress?
We leave you with this helpful quote whose author is unknown:
Even "Super You" needs help and support. There is no shame in asking for assistance. Push aside the pride and show respect for the talent others can bring to the table.
And, remember that there is no such thing as a single-handed success: when you include and acknowledge all those in your corner, you propel yourself, your teammates and your supporters to greater heights.
If you need a team to delegate to and who can deliver the results you want when you want them, talk to us at BizScale so we can help you with your tasks that need delegating. Complete the form on this page, email sales@bizscale.com, call 833-722-5310, or book time on Calendly today!
Sources:
https://hbr.org/2017/10/to-be-a-great-leader-you-have-to-learn-how-to-delegate-well
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_98.htm
https://www.meistertask.com/blog/delegate-tasks-effectively/
