You cannot do all of the things all of the time. It is a simple concept, but the reality is that at some point in their careers, all leaders need to hear it. Delegation, when done correctly, is a powerful and necessary skill for building success, and as with all competencies worth having, it can be difficult to master.
When you start to delegate, you test your own ego and, eventually, increase your humility. Leaders tend to be ambitious and self-assured people and to delegate successfully you need to accept that you are not the only person in the world who can do certain things to a satisfactory level. In fact, you may learn that others are able to complete these tasks better than you could, and in doing so put your own self-image to the test. So are the benefits of successful delegation worth the discomfort?
In 2014, Gallup studied the entrepreneurial talent profiles of 143 CEOs on the Inc. 500 list and their business performance over three years. They discovered that the CEOs with high Delegator talent achieved 112 percentage points greater business growth than those with limited Delegator talent. In short – being a leader with great delegation skills is the path to business growth and personal success, but why is it so powerful?
Delegation helps leaders to achieve a better balance between tactical and strategic work; and between their short term and long term goals. As well as freeing up their time to focus on high value activities, leaders who delegate effectively are more likely to have an empowered, productive team working for them. By maximising their employees’ contributions, delegating the right tasks to the right people allows them to demonstrate their talents, their capabilities, and helps them to feel like an empowered, important member of the team. It builds trust and this in turn can increase job satisfaction and organisational loyalty, helping you to retain the talent you have worked so hard to attract.
The first step in harnessing the power of delegation, is determining which tasks can be delegated and which can’t. You can use a tool such as The Eisenhower Matrix (aka the Urgent vs. Important Matrix) to prioritise the most critical tasks and determine who is best placed to perform them.
You don’t need to wait until your team members are 100% proficient in something to hand them a task. Instead, by delegating to your team now, you can start to develop their skills and their initiative so that they reach the level faster, begin to ask for responsibilities and gain the confidence to put themselves forward for more assignments in the future. However, leaders must remember that delegation does not stop at the assignment of tasks.
In order to ensure your delegation is successful, you must hand over accountability incrementally, and accept that you will need to be available and supportive throughout the initial stages. The extra effort will be worthwhile as by setting expectations and accountability, and providing feedback, you and your team will learn where strengths lie, and where there are skill gaps to be filled. Delegation has the power to help you grow together into a more effective, productive team by boosting morale, improving communication and encouraging innovation.
If you’d like to put your delegating skills into practice, why not try bringing a virtual assistant on to your team? Let us take some pressing tasks off your plate and allow you to enjoy more free time this summer. Freeing up time to be kind to yourself leads to a more balanced and healthier lifestyle. Get in touch for a free consultation here.
