In the last two posts in this leadership series we will be taking everything we have learned so far and apply it to the thorny subject of delegation (this edition) and empowerment (final article).
Why is it a thorny subject you may be asking yourself? The answer to this comes from our human nature and there are several answers:
- We are worried they won’t do it as well as we could.
- What if they make a mistake?
- It is faster to do it ourselves.
- They are too busy to ask them.
- What if they don’t have the ability to do it.
Many of these are understandable fears but need to be overcome if you ever hope to lighten your personal load, or to be able to take on more work that is more appropriate to your level. Let’s look at them in turn. We may always believe that we can do a task better than someone else, but the reality is that in most cases it won’t matter. They will do it equally well and it will be a more than sufficient outcome.
Of course, there will be situations when those you have delegated to make a mistake. This is part of the learning process and will help them grow. Clearly, we need to be selective on what you give them in the first instance, so that if they make a mistake it will not be a major issue. If they have made a mistake, you can help them rectify the situation and they will have grown through the process. A word of warning, if you give them a hard time when they make a mistake, then they are going to be less willing to try to do new things in the future.
Showing someone how to do things for the first time does take longer than if you finished the task yourself. Unfortunately, if we use that logic, we would never pass on anything and we would soon become overwhelmed with the amount of work we have to do ourselves. Invest the time, pass the task on and free yourself up to do new tasks that are more befitting your level within the organisation.
Another reason we resist passing on tasks is that we feel that the person may be too busy. It is a fair concern, but the reality is that most people have capacity to do more tasks. How can I say this with such surety? Because, you are a busy person, and you are regularly taking on new tasks. Your team are no different. What you give them to do they may see as more important than any of their task they are currently working on.
We also worry about their ability to do it, which can be a genuine worry. However, as we have seen over previous posts, we can assess their ability and determine their development level. We have looked at whether we can trust them and if they would accountable for the tasks you give them. Now assuming all of those are positive then you only need to determine if they need any training to do the task and either provide it yourself or get someone to teach them.
The reality is that the only thing stopping you from lightening your load is any worries you may have about releasing tasks to others.
In the last part of this series on Leadership we will be looking at the need to empower certain members of your team to take over responsibility for a major project, or ministry.
To read this series from the beginning click here
To read the next part click here