You have high standards of excellence.
You seek perfection in everything you do.
You receive lots of accolades for your performance.
Therefore, it makes it really hard for you to delegate . . .
This is a classic problem and I have seen it plague experienced leaders as well as new ones.
Based on a recent article in Harvard Business Review, here are some suggestions to become a more effective delegator.
First, you need a new mindset:
- If you try to do everything, you will burn out and limit your scope of activity
- Not everything has to perfect.
- The only way for people to learn and grow is through delegation.
If you can make this shift in thinking, then follow these steps:
1. Select projects to delegate which won’t seriously damage operations if they are not done perfectly. Give them to people who you think have strengths that match the project.
2. Give instructions clearly and set a timeline for the project. Establish check-in points, but don’t solve their problems for them. “What do you think are potential solutions?”
3. Provide encouragement along the way. There are bound to be setbacks. Take these in stride and call them learning opportunities.
4. Finally, conduct an After-Action Review after the project and ask your team member to highlight the things they learned from working on it.
Your success – and your organization’s – depends upon your ability to develop a team of high performers. The only way that will happen is if you give them these growth opportunities. Take this long view and you will make even more of a Mission Impact.
*Ideas for this blog taken from: Hocking, S. “Learning to Delegate as a First-Time Manager,” Harvard Business Review online, June 14, 2024.
