Luke Murray defines true delegation as fully transferring responsibility for a clearly defined project to one person, so you can mentally delete it. He uses a pilot-copilot analogy and shares how his brother Nick only partners with family because they give him the peace of mind to truly let go of delegated work.
If you can't delete it, then you didn't delegate it. If you're delegating tasks but you're still stressed out, it may not be because you're doing it wrong. It might be because you don't know what true delegation feels like, and then you can't work backwards from there. So first, the practical definition of the word delegation. It's the successful transfer of responsibility for a clearly defined project From one person to another. The successful transfer of responsibility is the understanding that this is no longer mine. So an example is when a pilot and a copilot are flying, they could be sharing responsibility, but typically that's not the case. Actually, that's never actually the case. One of them is in charge, and let's say they have to switch who's in charge. They've got to go to the bathroom or something. They'll say, your airplane. And then the person says, my airplane. And when that happens, the responsibility of flying that aircraft has transferred. The second is the clearly defined project. Successful transfer of a clearly defined project. And that just means who is supposed to do what by when. And then the last is from one person to another, or from one person, I should say, to one other person. Not a group of people. And you could say, well, what if you delegated a project to a team? Well, you either have to give the project to one person who then breaks it up into little pieces and gives that out to one person, or you would be the person leading that team and you are giving pieces of that project from yourself to that person. Here's the story of how I even came up with that concept. So I was talking to my brother Nick. He's a very successful entrepreneur. Been a millionaire since he was in his early 30s. And I asked him about starting a business, another business with somebody. And he said flat out, no, if their last name is not Murray, which is our last name, then I don't want them. And when I pushed back and I was like, why not, dude? It's going to make things so much easier. And he said, because if I give a task to a Murray, then I can just delete it from my brain. And know that it will either for sure get done or that it was impossible to get done, so I wouldn't have got it done anyway if I would've kept it to myself. And I don't want to have to think about it anymore. I don't want to start a business with someone where I have to think about my stuff plus their stuff. And while I think he can be a little more open-minded to the idea that people other than his brother could could provide him with that level of cognitive mental peace. That framework has stuck with me, and I've shared this story with my CEOs. Remember, we're all making this up, so you choose what matters to you the most.
