Leadership Briefs

Delegating Developmentally

 Leaders have three options: (1) Not delegating, (2) Delegating prematurely, or (3) Delegating developmentally. Leaders must understand everyone is not at the same readiness for full delegation.

KNOWING WHEN TO DELEGATE

The myths of why leaders don’t delegate:

» “I need control.”

» “I can do it faster.”

» “It takes too long to train someone else.”

The reality is that leaders need to delegate. A leader who controls every detail of work processes becomes the bottleneck in

productivity and hinders the development of emerging leaders. Leaders who assume they can do it faster are taking a short-term view rather than focusing on how much future productivity they will enjoy from other team members who learn the skill. Leaders who conclude that it takes too long to train someone else are missing the opportunity to develop each team member through stretch assignments. Cultures that value the professional growth of team members throughout the organization create a work environment that attracts and retains emerging leaders.

LEADERS ASSESS READINESS

Communicate different messages to team members who are in various quadrants on the working grid of potential and performance.

» Low performers with low potential need a message of direction to alert them to unacceptable performance.

» High performers with low potential need a message of affirmation to challenge them to continue performing beyond expectation.

» Low performers with high potential need a message of correction to determine if they can improve performance.

» High performers with high potential need a message of expectation to challenge their capacity, setting a new standard for best practice performance.