Effective leadership requires proper delegation

One of the most difficult transitions leaders make is the shift from doing to delegating. In the rise to leadership, we often become addicted to the recognition and ego boosts that come from getting stuff done ourselves.

As individual contributors, we are rewarded for the work we do. But as leaders, we're rewarded for the work others do. Effective leadership requires proper delegation.

Proper delegation has a small sweet spot with two spectrums. You might under-delegate when you micromanage a delegated task. Or, you might over-delegate when you delegate projects that are too difficult or lack sufficient instruction.

Like surfing a wave, it's easy to oscillate between these two spectrums and miss the sweet spot. When a team member complains about micromanagement, you respond by over-delegating. When your team fails to deliver, you respond by under-delegating.

Effective leaders find the sweet spot.

Proper delegation requires more work upfront to set people up for success. It takes time to select the right tasks for the right people while providing proper context and instructions. Good delegation requires more time upfront, but it provides you leverage on the backend. Effective leaders avoid the busyness trap, which happens when you’re so busy doing everything yourself, you don't have time to find and train someone to help you.

Proper delegation requires humility. Most work is not that important, despite what your self-image may tell you. You have to be ok with good enough instead of perfect. Effective leaders avoid the egoistical trap of thinking, “only I can do this.” They avoid saying "I'll just do it" when a team member is moving too slowly.

Proper delegation requires trust. When you delegate a job to someone, you have to trust the person to get it done. But that doesn't mean you need to trust them blindly. You can trust someone while also making sure that they're meeting your requirements. Effective leaders trust but verify. They delegate, but they don’t abdicate. They remain responsible for the ultimate outcome.

Proper delegation requires clear ownership. Anything you delegate requires a single ultimate owner. "A dog with two owners dies of hunger." Effective leaders ensure clear roles and responsibilities.

Proper delegation requires you to create room for your team members to learn from their mistakes. One way to think about good mistakes versus bad mistakes is to visualize the waterline of a ship. Damage above the waterline won't sink the ship, but damage below the waterline will. Effective leaders let team members work through mistakes that are above the waterline and help them avoid mistakes that are below the waterline.

Delegation evolves as you get better at it. When learning how to delegate, start with small tasks. Eventually, those small tasks will become a job. Then, jobs multiply into teams. And teams form organizations.

Have thoughts on this topic? I'd love to hear from you! I'm @RickLindquist on Twitter.