7 Things Successful Leaders Never Delegate
Everything you hang on to eventually holds you back. But one day you will eventually let go of everything.
Apart from delegation, you’re overworked and frantic.
Delegation is the skill that makes remarkable success possible.
Delegation is the decision to:
- Lead.
- Trust others.
- Lead beyond personal capacity.
- Build capacity in others.
- Replace yourself. You’re a bottleneck if you aren’t replacing yourself.
Delegation is the decision to do less so you can do more.
Delegate tasks first; then delegate authority.
Assign specific tasks. See how people perform.
- Do they follow through?
- When did their energy go up?
- How are they interacting with others?
- Do they look for more?
- What are they learning?
After an employee demonstrates competence, initiative, and follow through, delegate authority.
Authority and responsibility:
The difference between assigning tasks and delegating authority is ownership and control.
You delegate a task when you say sweep the classroom floor.
You delegate authority when you say keep the classroom clean and provide the resources to get the job done.
Leaders are always responsible, even when they delegate authority.
7 Things successful leaders never delegate:
- Ultimate responsibility.
- Decisions that affect the entire organization.
- One-time tasks to people who don’t already have the skill to finish.
- High-risk activities to untested talent.
- Modeling behaviors that express values and build culture. Expect all leaders to Model the Way. Always expect more from yourself than you expect from others.
- Developing direct reports.
- Crisis management.
What are the principles of effective delegation?
What should never be delegated?
Excellent 360′ view on the critical area of delegation. I esp. appreciated the section on what should always remain yours. Thanks, Dan!
Thanks T. Have a great week!
constantly amazed and impacted by your thoughtful and spot-on wisdom and leadership principles.
Thank you Brian. It’s wonderful of you to stop in and be an encouragement. Have a great week.
I see delegating a task and delegating authority a bit different. If I give a team member a task that I normally do that is delegating. If he does a good job and acutely enjoyed being exposed to new information and task then I delegate the authority and advise my management to send that task to him. If the person does not receive the task well then I use that as a opportunity to work on team skills. Oh and I don’t take my eyes off the project since I suspect its not going to get done correctly. Sometimes it takes more time to delegate then to do it yourself. There is risk to delegating and I don’t delegate responsibility. The job is mine till I give the authority, if it is not done right that will be my fault not the employee. Great post a good way to look to see who really is ready for whatever is next.
Great post, real delegation is a difficult high-level skill. I often find leaders are thinking they are delegating when in reality they are just assigning tasks. True delegation actually leads to moving an assignment from the leader to the team member and giving ownership. In the end, results are still the leader’s responsibility.
I appreciate the succinct way this is stated in your post today.
Each one of these 7 can be broken down into specific interactions and skills that take repeated practice. Seems it would be worth focusing on one at a time for a week at a time and really begin noticing and practicing intentionally.