Delegating - Only Do what Only you Can do

Several of my coaching clients have requested support with either time management or work life balance

When we have a discovery conversation on their challenge there is generally much more to discuss on the topic of insufficient delegation.

They're keeping excessive responsibilities, authority and duty to their and their company's detriment.

Consequently they under perform at their own level. They hold themselves back or suffer from a lack of balance in their lives with too many hours at work.

The effects may be devastating for their reports who are stifled and therefore are losing out on possibilities to develop

There are many of explanations why my clients are keeping hold of excessive duties and authorities. Reason behind not delegating include things like:

Insufficient trust - Trust comes in various forms, but this is not about questioning either ethics or integrity. Supporting this insufficient trust is too little understanding of the abilities, capacity and capability of their team. This is be a bind which leaders unintentionally create

They are much too busy to get to know their people but given that they don't spend time on understanding their people they can't delegate completely.

Neglecting to let go - Many promoted leaders / managers forget that their new role is a full time "leading function". It has its own responsibilities separate from their old comfortable job.

As a result they hold onto tasks and responsibilities related to their previous function. In this they ignore the complete range of responsibilities from the new function - including building their staff. Therefore they short change their reports and irritate the individual that took on their old role.

Lack of delegation creates a bottle neck within a business. One individual carries excessive load yet others are underutilised and under-developed.

I remember when I heard a speaker say "only do what only you can do!"

The rest gets delegated.

Once I discuss this with my stressed and time poor coaching clients it take a while until they emotionally release their to overburdened do list.

To succeed within their positions and also to build their talent and staff; then "only do what only you can do" is an mindset which should be implemented as soon as possible.

However letting go is simpler to say than it is to do. Delegating effectively requires a discipline of mind and behaviour. It also require an investment of time to learn more about direct reports abilities, limitations and aspirations.

To learn more about how to delegate effectively, visit our Delegating for Sanity: The Managers Survival Guide! Free webinar

Liz Cassidy, founder of Third Sigma International is an author, Speaker and Executive Coach

To learn more about how to delegate effectively, visit our Delegating for Sanity: The Managers Survival Guide! Free webinar. For more information http://www.thirdsigma.com.au/delegating-for-sanity-the-managers-survival...