Courageous Leader BLUEprint™ – 6th edition

Welcome back leaders!

This is the sixth edition of our Courageous Leader BLUEprint™ newsletter. 

Every three weeks, you’ll get quick, thoughtful leadership insights without the fluff.

Read time: less than 10 minutes

This is our longest newsletter yet – but we believe this topic is so essential, it would have been a disservice to YOU to keep it too short.

As we continue with the Courageous Leader BLUEprint™, a framework designed to support your success as a courageous leader, we’re now finally getting to E – Empower.

In our model, courageous leaders who empower others do so by generously choosing to:

• Delegate

• Train

• Inspire

For now, we’ll start with delegation.

In our experience working with leaders in a variety of industries, delegation can be challenging for leaders, at least initially.

A quick question – are you the busiest person on your team?

If you are, you might not be leading.

Why is delegation so challenging?

Here are some reasons (and excuses) we hear:

• “I’m too busy to delegate.”

         -Also stated as “It’ll take too long to teach someone else how to do it.”

• “I know I’ll just be able to do the job right the first time.”

         -Also stated as “They won’t be able to do as good a job.”

Ok, first off, there can be a lot of validity to each of those statements, and we’ll address each statement soon.

But first, what we often find the underlying (and in many cases, unsaid) reasons to be:

• “I have trouble letting go.”

• “I don’t know how to delegate.”

• “If I teach them to do my job, they’ll try to take my job.”

• “I don’t trust people to get the job done on time or correctly.”

Let’s go back to the excuses.

“I’m too busy to delegate.”

&

“It’ll take too long to teach someone else how to do it.”

We get it. In fact, “I’m too busy” is one of the most common things we hear from leaders, regardless of the circumstance.

But think about it. How many tasks do you perform that people on your team can help you with to free up some of your time?

Let’s take a hypothetical example. Say you complete a task that requires 30 minutes of your time each week.

You decide this task can be delegated to someone on your team, but realize it might take you three hours on training, checking on progress, ensuring they understand the parameters, coaching them, etc.

If you spend three hours towards delegating, that means you could have completed the same task yourself six times.

That upfront investment may seem like a lot (six weeks’ worth of work), but eventually, all of a sudden, you have an extra 30 minutes each week.

“I know I’ll just be able to do the job right the first time.”

&

“They won’t be able to do as good a job.”

Again, we get it.

But remember, your job as a leader is different.

You are no longer responsible for doing the work. You are now responsible for making sure the work gets done through others.

Believe it or not, your team members want to learn new skills.

They want to contribute. They want to help you.

And you have a valid point.

They probably won’t do the job right the first time.

But our guess is, neither did you.

Becoming competent at a skill requires time, resources, coaching, and feedback.

Eventually, as your team members become more competent, the “bench strength” increases.

Leaders don’t just create followers. The best leaders create leaders.

Let’s shift gears to some of the underlying reasons why leaders don’t delegate.

“I have trouble letting go.”

This can be tough.

Especially since you can never actually “completely” let go.

You can always delegate the authority to complete a task, but you can never fully delegate the responsibility to complete a task.

You still have ultimate responsibility.

This is why training, coaching, and feedback are critical to effective delegation.

Communication is key.

One problem we see with this reason is that once leaders delegate, they sit back and wait for the task to be completed on time, within budget, and as “perfectly” as the leader would do it.

But, the leader fails to communicate throughout the process to ensure people are clear on expectations, have the necessary resources, and feel safe to bring problems to the leader.

This is where accountability comes in.

But, the right perspective of accountability is essential.

Accountability should be about finding ways to continually develop others and take ownership of our impact.

Unfortunately, accountability is often framed as “who’s to blame?”

If we’re not regularly communicating with someone who has a delegated assignment, it can be tempting to blame them for not completing it on time and to specification.

If this is the case, it is usually we as leaders who are to blame for not communicating appropriately throughout the process.

“I don’t know how to delegate.”

Knowing how to delegate is a challenge for many leaders.

Think of it as a gradual process.

At first, you must:

• Select the right person to delegate to

• Provide the necessary training and resources

• Explain the expected results in measurable terms

• Express confidence in their ability

• Discuss expectations around reporting/communication

• Ensure understanding

Then, you must coach the person, provide feedback, and offer encouragement as they learn.

Your role evolves from directive to supportive as they build skills and confidence.

“If I teach them to do my job, they’ll try to take my job.”

Unfortunately, too many leaders cling to control of too many tasks due to this exact belief.

And what’s the alternative?

If you don’t train them, then when you leave, no one can take your job?

We work with many people who have served in the military (thank you for your service), and one of the concepts we’ve learned from them is that in combat, you must know the job of your superior officer and your direct report.

This is because lives are on the line.

However, we believe this is applicable to all types of organizations, regardless of whether they operate in the private, public, or non-profit sector.

The more we understand the roles and demands of both our superiors and subordinates, the more effective we become at communicating and operating as an organization.

At least, that’s our belief.

And yes, when we leave a leadership vacancy, there should be a pipeline of competent leaders ready to step into our shoes.

“I don’t trust people to get the job done on time or correctly.”

We recognize that not everyone can handle the tasks you’d like to delegate.

But if you don’t trust someone or see them as competent, ask yourself why.

Have you trained them? Built a relationship?

If you’ve truly done all you can and the trust still isn’t there, it may be time to re-evaluate whether they belong on your team.

So far, we’ve covered some of the challenges around delegation.

Now, let’s go over some of the benefits:

• Your time multiplies

• Employees become more engaged

• Increased “bench strength”

• Relationships deepen

• Motivation rises

• Morale improves

We think these benefits speak for themselves.

But the real question is – will you have the courage to choose delegation?

We want to help you on that journey, so we’ve created this brief one-page PDF as a quick reference guide: Delegation with Courage: A Leader’s Quick-Reference Guide

Every great leader you admire got there by letting go of something first.

Delegation is a courageous choice. This week, choose one task to hand off, support your team member through it, and watch your leadership (and their confidence) grow.