How to delegate in a simple, stress free way!
One of the key areas that I always teach my clients is how to delegate properly.
Why is this skill so critically important for leaders?
Well, delegation has huge benefits on three levels:
- For the leader: It gives you the time to focus on more strategic tasks and it builds trust with your team
- For your team members: It gives them the opportunity to learn, grow and feel a sense of purpose and autonomy
- For your organization: It improves efficiencies, productivity, communication and creates a pipeline of talent for succession planning purposes
Now that I’ve articulated the business case for delegation…let me ask you this…
On a scale of 1 to 10…how good are you at delegating?
1 = I’m the worst. I hoard all my work and don’t trust anyone else at all!
10 = I can write the book on delegation. I rock. I’ve got it down to a fine art and a science!
If you scored a 7 or higher…congratulations. Keep up the good work and keep delegating!
If you scored a 6 or below…I’d like you to consider delegating more and focusing on developing this skill.
Let me give you an example of how delegation can be simple and stress free.
My client Miriam was planning a virtual townhall meeting for her team to review their goals and objectives for the year. We were talking about the agenda for that meeting, and I asked her, “Why are you planning and facilitating the whole meeting?” Miriam is an executive. She has very smart VPs and Directors working for her. I was just so curious as to why she wasn’t delegating 90% of the meeting to her team.
Well, she took my advice, completely changed her approach and delegated like a star.
She provided her VP’s and Directors with:
- Clear outcomes she expected from each of them
- Plenty of time to plan
- Lots of autonomy to execute the tasks in their own way
In my call with Miriam yesterday, she told me that the townhall was a HUGE success. Her team leveraged so much creativity, they were so engaged in the meeting and everyone actually had FUN!
Imagine that!
So…my questions for you are as follows…
- What’s on your to-do list right now that you should NOT be doing?
- Who is the best person on your team that can take over the task?
- What will the impact be for you, your team and your organization if you delegate this task?
Please, delegate more and give your team more autonomy. Remember, you don’t have to be the one speaking, planning and executing everything. Trust your team. They are smart people and I’m sure would be delighted to really leverage their strengths so you both can shine.
