How to be a Powerhouse Delegator! Why delegation is a challenge for many leaders

Have you ever worked for someone who just threw tasks at you without much thought, planning, preparation, let alone prioritization? Or on the other extreme, they hold on so tight to the task that your position or role should be doing, and that leaves you stressed, frustrated, questioning your value, your worth and contribution to the team, even doubting how you're boss feels about you. Far too many managers lack the critical skill of delegation, and they also fail to really see the impact that it's having on their team, on their business, and even themselves. Is there any chance you're that type of individual? If you are, that's fine, because what we're going to talk today is all around the challenges of not delegating and then give you some powerhouse tips for shifting from dumper to delegator and from so-so manager to a powerhouse leader. Stay with us. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Shedding the Corporate Bitch, the podcast that transforms female corporate executives into powerhouse leaders by showing them how to shed the challenges and overwhelm along with any fear, insecurity, self-doubt, and negativity holding them Welcome back. I'm your host, Bernadette Boas of Follow Fire Coaching, bringing you powerhouse discussions each week to share tips, advice, and sometimes tough love so you create the riches in your work and life you deserve. Let's do this. Instead of focusing on what you should or shouldn't be doing when it comes to delegating, I think logically we all understand what those are. I really want to help you as either a receiver of the impact of not delegating and/or the person who's struggling to delegate effectively. I want to really focus on why that is and therefore help everyone kind of walk in the shoes of those that others might define as dumpers or people that are just control freaks and want to hold on to to everything and do it themselves for a, you know, number of reasons. And so that way you can appreciate kind of the mindset of the individual as opposed to just getting frustrated and stressed over it. You might kind of learn to understand and therefore be empathetic toward it and yet find ways to work with it. All right, so when I'm working with my clients, my job is to ask them a lot of questions to get under the covers, peel the onion back, whatever term or phrase you want to use to really get down to the core essence of why they behave, why they act, why they communicate verbally, in writing, whatever the case might be, why they do what they do. And when you look at delegation, there are definitely some behavioral, emotional, mental challenges that people have, whether they are a great delegator or in most cases, if they're challenged, they're having difficulty being a strong delegator. So let's walk through some of those things that you might be able to appreciate in the individual that might be uh, affecting whether you're, you know, given the work that you need to be doing, getting involved in the projects you should be involved in, given— being given the opportunities and the challenges that you're asking for. All right, so the first thing would be, you know, that person that holds on tight. I used to be this— the person that holds on tight to, uh, to the tasks and the projects or the initiatives or the opportunities. Let's look at it in even more strategic, impactful way. Um, and they hold on to it for themselves. Uh, you know, basically they want control, and so their fear of losing control, uh, takes over and is more powerful than them taking that risk of someone not doing it the way they do it, do it as well as they do it. They're going to miss out on key information or key opportunity for acknowledgment and recognition and exposure. There's a number of reasons why someone might be fearful of losing control, and a lot of that has to come to whether or not maybe they're a perfectionist and they want to make sure it's done right. Maybe it's because they do have, you know, a style that leans toward wanting recognition and the accolades for something, and therefore they feel that they have to be involved in everything and they can't necessarily turn it over to anybody else as a result of that. But the idea of losing control is a real fear factor. For individuals that, you know, are kind of either dumping and, and kind of giving it away, or they're holding on to it tight, not wanting to provide opportunity. Or I'll take that back, they want to provide opportunity. They're not thinking like, let's deprive someone of an opportunity. They're just not recognizing the fact that the other person seeing this as, it's my job, I'm being paid to do this, it's something I want to do, I enjoy doing it, um, and yes, it is an opportunity for me to get exposure, for me to get new education, new skill, new training, so forth and so on. And so that fear kind of overtakes, and therefore it comes and is projected at either dumping or holding on to. All right, so that's the first one you really want to be thinking about and recognizing in someone, including yourself, uh, when it comes to, uh, you know, uh, needing control. And I had mentioned that I was that type of person. I always wanted to be in control. If I delegated it to somebody else, I was fearful that they weren't going to do it as good as I, as fast as I They, you know, they were going to get the accolades. I wasn't. I fell into that trap of a control freak, so to speak, and have learned over time how to then, you know, let that go. And we'll talk about that in a few minutes. The next one would just be— and you have to recognize this, and we talked about it in the intro— is there is a lack of trust that is underlying in that, in those emotional, mental, um, uh, aspects of an individual. They may— it may not come across to them as that they don't trust you. As a matter of fact, they'll be like, no, I trust you to do it. Okay, then let me do it. But then their, their fears start, you know, creeping in. And subconsciously, uh, they may be thinking or feeling as if, okay, I can't trust this individual to do it the way I need them to do it, to do it in the quality that I want it done or the time I want it done. Maybe because of past experience, maybe because there is evidence of past experience, or maybe it's just their idea of what's the right way, what's the speed of which it should be done, what's the, the approach that should be taken. Again, you know, it would, you know, pull into question the way they do it. And if, you know, if they think their way is the best way, then anyone else challenging that is a threat. And that creates a great deal of fear and therefore hesitation. Okay, but at the same time, these individuals also can be dumpers. They also could be those individuals that throw tasks, but the tasks aren't purposeful, they're not thoughtful, they're not considerate of the fact that these are the tasks that this individual should be doing, this individual is capable of doing. They're just tasks being thrown at them without much thought, like, or planning, or even prioritization. Um, but a lack of trust seeps in, and it certainly is the impact that one is having on someone else. They are thinking, this person doesn't trust me to do my job, this person doesn't trust me to do it right, this person doesn't trust that I'm capable of doing it, this person doesn't trust that I'll do it on time. And, and what is that creating for that individual? It's creating a lot of— forget insecurity, but it's even creating a lot of diminished self-worth. And, you know, most leaders, you know, 99.9% of the, you know, leaders that I've met in my 15 years of coaching and consulting, let alone my whole career, they're not showing up at work wanting to diminish people. They're not. But you have to recognize if you're the receiver or the person being impacted, you have to recognize that there are these emotional, mental behaviors that are causing them to act in a certain way. And if you can kind of see that and appreciate that and empathize with that, then you can find ways to work with that individual to, you know, to minimize the feeling of, of distrust. Or the— that they would lose control of something. And we'll talk about how to do that in a few minutes. The other thing that many individuals, you know, do or behave when it comes to not being effective delegators is that they— some of them feel guilty about, you know, putting one more thing on you. You know, they feel guilty about, you know, the amount of work someone's already doing. Or they feel guilty that, you know what, I could do this. It will only take me 5 minutes if I were to do this. Why would I, you know, pass it on to somebody else? So they actually have a sense of guilt by doing what they're supposed to be doing, and that is delegating and ensuring that everyone is empowered and is enabled to do the work that needs to get done. The other flip side of guilt too is the accountability. They don't want to be accountable for somebody else's work, quality of work. So this, this comes up quite a bit in business, and you may have experienced it yourself. Think about it when, you know, if all of a sudden your boss does turn over something, you know, really big. Say there's a— say there's a merger and acquisition opportunity. You've wanted to learn about it. You've wanted to get in to really understand the strategy and the process and, you know, just the guts of it. And you finally convinced your manager to provide you that opportunity to go and get involved in this merger and acquisition project. So here, what they're kind of dealing with within themselves— this person who has a hard time delegating— what they're dealing with is, oh my God, what if they screw it up? Oh my God, they're going into a room with some— you know, anytime it's around like a merger and acquisition, or it's, you know, a new initiative, a new project, a new client, a new you know, true product service customer and someone new is being introduced to it and you've let the, you know, let go of the reins and entrusted that with, with someone. There is always kind of some apprehension about whether that person's going to, you know, kind of step up and actually achieve what it is that you need them to achieve, or if it's going to fall on their face, and therefore it's also going to have implications for them as the person who delegated this initiative to the other party. So they, you know, so they also hesitate wanting to be accountable for someone else's performance or lack thereof, which would then kind of create its own, you know, trauma within an individual. And that could hold them back or have them hesitate in delegating something new or something different or something risky. So there's the accountability side of it. And then there's the time investment. But this one really irks me. This one really gets me when it comes to so-called leaders is a lot of them will hesitate delegating because that means they actually have to teach, train, coach, mentor. Give feedback, follow up, check in, so forth and so on. And there is nothing worse for me to hear as a coach that a client struggles to delegate or decides not to because of the investment of time that it takes to get that person ramped up. I can do it in 5 minutes. I already know how to do it. So I don't need to have someone else to do it. They're busy enough and I don't have time to train them is what I'll often hear. And ooh, that's the one that just gets me because guess what? It's your job. That's what you're there for. You're there to enable and to empower your people to delegate those tasks and those initiatives and those opportunities and those risks. And be there as a backup and as a supporter and as a mentor and as a coach and as a trainer to then see them elevate and grow in their role and their position. So, but you have to understand for yourself, if you are the, the one that's holding back from delegating or you're the one being impacted, you have to understand another challenge that individuals have is they'll say to themselves, I don't have the time to invest in getting this person ramped up, trained, skilled at what it is that they could be doing. And you know what? I've, you know, it's— I've dealt with that myself over the past several years. I've brought on multiple team members, and, you know, it was me for a long, long time. And so I had to kind of take a deep breath and say, okay, if this is what I want and these individuals that I'm hiring are capable of the tasks that I've hired them for, then I need to take the time. It's my obligation to take the time to train them and coach them and develop them and help them to understand how to be successful in delivering what it is that I'm expecting. Okay, so the 1 irk that you definitely don't want to fall into is the time to investment is a challenge. Do whatever you need to do to overcome that one. All right. And then the other one as well, at the same time, this will go into some of the tips that we're going to talk about. The other challenge that many managers have when it comes to delegation is They don't want to kind of have an uneven workload amongst their team. Like, they're concerned that one will have too much, one will have too little. They even may be seen as master delegators to where they've delegated everything out and they've left themselves with very little because maybe they just wanted some free time, maybe they're just skirting by, whatever the case might be. But, you know, they also consider the workload of their own, of themselves, as well as their team members, wanting to ensure, you know, and they're— and some of them are actually concerned that they have an even distribution of work, when in some cases that's just not appropriate based on the task that needs to get done. And then the skill that the individuals have. There may be times, depending upon, you know, the project or the initiative that you're working on, that, you know, one or two or a group of people have a lot more work to do on your team than some others. However, that's a great opportunity for cross-training and development. Is, yes, you know, these two, three, four may be taking the brunt of everything for the next several months, The others are going to be light in workload because they— because of the shift. And therefore, what can we do? What can you do to really empower even those individuals to then also put time— along with yourself— also put time into training and coaching and developing those and cross-training those other individuals that have light workloads. And that is a win-win for everybody. All right, for everybody. So I want to share some tips about how you, if you sense in yourself in any way, shape, or form that you're not delegating appropriately, you're not a powerhouse delegator, or you're someone that is impacted by someone who isn't, and you could always pass this on to them. Or you could model it yourself, even have discussions with others about it. But you can model it yourself in the, in the chance that others see how effective that you're, you're being in the approach that you're taking. And therefore it kind of naturally is shifted onto their, the way that they operate and their own process for delegating. All right, uh, so let— before I move on to doing that, let me recap the challenges to— so you, again, the whole objective is for you to kind of walk in someone's shoes, maybe even identify within yourself why they— someone may not be delegating as effectively as they need to be. All right, so the first one we talked about was losing control, the fear of losing control if they were to delegate, especially when it comes to high visibility, risk, important tasks or initiatives or projects, is a fear of losing control. The second one we talked about is the individual having a lack of trust that others may do it in the same way, the same quality., at the same time, or expectations of when they should be completing the tasks and the projects. Um, and at the same time, the trust comes into question if they have evidence that they may have not performed the way that you would have expected in the past, and therefore you hesitate delegating anything additional, or with that high risk, high visibility type of, of, of certainty or importance of the task. And then we talked about guilt, that there are some individuals that feel guilty in delegating and passing on tasks for others to do for numerous reasons. It could even be personal reasons. Oh, that person's going through, you know, a family situation, and I don't want to put more work on them. And then we talked about accountability, not necessarily wanting to be accountable accountable to that person's behavior or that person's performance. Then we talked about the time investment. This is my irk, you know, that it takes time. It's an investment that when you delegate, and if that individual doesn't know how to do what it is that you need them to do, you're going to have to take the time to do it. And lastly, we talked about just, you know, a concern of uneven workload. Maybe it's your workload, that you're concerned about, or it's your team members' workload, ensuring that, you know, you may want— be that type that wants everybody to have an even workload, and that's just not always the case or always what should happen. All right. So the challenges. Now we'll move on to the tips. So here are some tips that you could be using, 8 of them, as a matter of fact, that you could be using to really become a powerhouse delegator. And The first one that I always tend to have my clients work and focus on, regardless of what skill it is that they're working on— in this case, we're working on delegation— is to really understand the value of, of that skill, the value and the impact of delegating. So the value is the fact that you're empowering, you're enabling, you're You know, allowing your— you're ensuring that your people, the people that you have hired that work for you, are contributing, are feeling valued and worthy and fulfilled, and they're being given the opportunities to stretch themselves, to take risk, to even fail. But you need to really sit down and assess what your belief and your view of a certain skill is. And even assess, you know, looking for those blind spots, looking for those challenges, looking for those areas that you may or may not be fully invested in. So in this case of delegation, you really want to think about like, what are my thoughts around delegating? What is coming up for me when it comes to the opportunities, the benefits, the impacts, the fears, the insecurities, the doubts? What is it that I'm, you know, experiencing when it comes to delegating? So really understanding it, because once you understand it and then even make a commitment, which is part of one, you make a commitment to, yes, as a leader, I need to be delegating for these reasons, then you can actually move on to, OK, what are those steps I need to be taking to be a powerhouse delegator? So the next one would be to really get clear around what the tasks are that need to be assigned. And now this sounds like, well, what, you know, it's just a task. I'm just going to pass it on. Well, a lot of the issue that occurs with workers and a lot of dissatisfaction that occurs with workers is that they're given a task to do, but they're not really explained exactly what the expectations are, what the desired outcome is, what the steps are that this individual wants them to be taking. They don't— they're not even told that, oh, you know what, you do it, you know, the way you want to do it, Joe. You just go and do it, and I trust that you're going to do it and bring it back to me. And I'll check in, so forth and so on. So you definitely want to first— that laundry list of tasks that you have in front of you, you want to first get a really clear understanding of what these tasks are, what skills are required, what is the timeframe. You might even go as far as what is the prioritization, the importance of each one of the tasks before even thinking about, you know, who it is you're going to pass it out to. All right. So the first one is understanding the value or the, the skill itself, in this case delegating. The second one would be get really clear on the tasks that you have on your to-do list to be delegated. And the third one would be you really want to choose the right task for the right person. So you look at this laundry list of tasks. And you've already considered what are the specific skills, what are the specific, you know, actions and tasks that— or actions and steps that need to be taken. And then you can bounce it up against your team members who you know have these skills, who you know that even if they don't have the skills, you trust them to learn them and to still deliver on what it is that you need. But you definitely want to choose the right task for the right person, even at the right time. And what that— I mean by that is going back to, um, the second step around clarity, uh, or the second tip around clarity, looking at prioritization. Uh, you know, there— the, the skill may be for this individual, this particular person, but yet they have big deliverables, um, on their, on their desk already, and therefore you know, the timing that is needed to get this particular task done is not suitable to go to that individual, as perfect as that person might be for it. Uh, you know, you're being thoughtful and intentional about delegating, and therefore you're gonna have to kind of go to your second choice of who, you know, would, would be the best person to handle that. All right, so choose the right task for the right person at the right time. Number 3, Um, the next one would be once you do— and again, maybe you're that individual who's struggling with a fear of losing control, a fear of not trusting, a fear of, you know, guilt, or that accountability that we talked about. That's okay. It's okay. These steps, if you follow them, will not eliminate necessarily 100% right away, but it'll minimize all of that. It'll take away a lot of that. So then you feel comfortable that in this case, you, you know, understand why it's important for you to delegate. You understand the details, and you're very clear, and you're going to make the other individual very clear around what needs to get done. You've chosen the right person to do it, and now you really just need to support and guide them through it. So remember we talked about the time to invest? Here's that support and guidance, making sure that they know that if they have any questions, if they have any needs in any way, shape, or form, they can come to you to, uh, you know, get those things taken care of, or to get that guidance, get that mentoring, get that coaching, get that advice, um, that is needed. All right, so you definitely need to be courting and guiding your individuals, your team members. And then you definitely want to check in. You, you know, yes, you want to empower them, you want to trust them, you want to give them these opportunities, you want to allow them to take risks. It doesn't mean you wash your hands of it and walk away. It just simply means that you, you know, kind of give them what they need to take action on it, and then you're checking in. You're asking for status updates. You're asking for progress reports. You're checking in to see if there are any issues or questions or risks that have come up. You know, yes, you could say, well, I'm gonna rely 100% on them to be coming to me with those statuses and updates. However, one, that should have been part of the early, here's the task, here's my expectations. Here's what is expected. This is the outcome we're looking for. And these are the steps I want you to be initiating and taking along the way. And/or you say, and, and/or I'm going to check in and have— make sure that there are status reports and progress updates periodically, but between when the task gets, gets assigned and when it needs to be delivered. Now, of course, some of these tasks we're talking about, you know, are very simple one-day turnarounds, whatever the case might be. At the same time, just because you delegate it doesn't mean that you just kind of let go of any responsibility for it. All right. So you want to be sure that you're also checking in and providing them that support through that, those check-ins as well, in case they're hesitant in their, you know, in their, updates to really come forward and ask for that support and guidance. In your status updates and progress reports, you can also be kind of a second layer of support. Um, and then of course you wanna be coaching and providing feedback, uh, along the way or in these milestones that you might define, uh, with that individual, because what they're gonna wanna know is good, bad, or ugly, they're going to want to know how they're doing. They're going to want to know, you know, where they could be improving. They're going to want to know where they kind of, you know, went off course. Feedback is the number one thing. When I've spent the last, you know, 8 months talking to hundreds of workers from, you know, from floor to the, you know, C-suite, so to speak, They've all said that all they would, would want from their bosses is, is feedback, is to know how they're doing and how they're contributing, and yet at the same time where they're going off course. So they definitely, definitely need feedback. And then you definitely want to kind of assess, and you want to sit back and say, okay, so how did it go? Looking very task-oriented. How did that go? How did they perform? How did we as a team perform? How was the outcome, the deliverable? Was the goal met? You definitely want to, you know, kind of be assessing that. But you also want to assess yourself. If you're working toward, or you're working from— if you're working from having any one of those challenges that we talked about— lack of trust, you know, fear of losing control, feeling guilty about delegating. Assess how you're progressing in that field. Make sure you're kind of honoring, as I always say, honoring the steps that you're taking, the progress that you're making. I don't care how small or big they are. Small steps, big results is the way I see it. And so be sure that there's two, two steps of assessing. Assess the progress and the, and the outcome of the task itself and the individual that you actually delegated to. But then assess yourself. How did you show up for that individual, but for yourself, when it came to finally, like, letting go or trusting or doing what you need to be doing? And that's delegating. So assess yourself. All right. Um, but though, if you were to take each one of those steps um, in your planning, preparation, uh, prioritization process of delegating the tasks, then you will find extreme confidence, uh, extreme breath, because all of a sudden the burden of you carrying everything, the burden of you kind of taking on everything, or even not trusting is a heavy, heavy weight. You will find your whole attitude mentally, emotionally, physically, even spiritually shifting. And you're, you know, you'll, you'll see yourself transforming into one hell of a powerhouse delegator and leader. All right, so let me recap those tips. Um, so first off, understand the value of the skill, in this case delegation. Understand really why is it I should be delegating and what is the value of it, not only to myself, which there's tremendous, but also my team members. And then get really clear on what is that laundry list of tasks that need to get done. Now, of course, through that I talked about, you know, you need to get, you need to get clear on not only what the tasks are, what skills are needed, so forth and so on. But this is where prioritization comes in. You should be looking at this to determine of these 10, 12, 20 tasks, uh, which ones are the priority to be delegating out, whether it's right now or it's even days down the road. So that all goes into step 2 of getting clear on what these tasks are Um, so then you can move to the next one, which is choose the right task for the right person at the right time. Okay, and then, uh, the, um, number, uh, 4 was then support and guide your individual, your team member or team members, um, with this task or initiative or project. Ensure that they have what they need and they know you're there, you have their back. All right, the next one was, and then make sure you're checking in. There's statuses, there's progress reports. You're not wiping your hands of it. You're simply ensuring that they're, you know, keeping you up to date as far as the progress and the status of, of that task that you've, that you've delegated to them. Number 6 was provide feedback. Again, everybody wants feedback. Good, bad, or ugly, everybody wants feedback. So provide feedback. And then number 7 would be assess the, the outcome. Assess the actual— once it's wrapped up and taken care of, assess the outcome. Did you, you know, meet the deliverable? Did you accomplish the task? So forth and so on. Assess the individual. How did they do? Because then you want to put that in your pocket because now you have more and more information and more and more evidence as to how you can leverage that individual and how they can continue to contribute and perform. And if there are any gaps or any developmental issues, you're addressing them as you were supporting, guiding, and even getting status reports and, and progress reports. But assess kind of the overall outcome of that task. Then assess yourself. Number 8, assess yourself. How did you, you know, as a leader, engage and coach and develop and, and, you know, were present for that individual or for that team with that task? But at the same time, how were you when it came to delegating it out? Should you have had any of those challenges around being a really powerhouse delegator? Delegation is absolutely critical. For you and for your team and for the business. It's something that you can't avoid. And when you do avoid it, you're going to initiate— you're going to immediately, I should say, you're going to immediately feel the impact of it because it'll come from first yourself, probably, that you're extremely overwhelmed and stressed and burned out. But it'll also come from when you start, you know, observing your people and they feel, you know, they feel kind of disenfranchised. They feel disconnected. They're unmotivated. They're not showing up because the fact that you're not giving them the opportunity, you're not empowering them the way that you should be and need to be. So you really want to, you know, kind of understand that going back to the very first tip provided really understand the critical nature of delegating and its value to everything that you do as a leader. All right. I am so grateful that you are with us. And if you have any challenges with yourself or with your team when it comes to delegating, even when it comes to the subsegments of those tips we talked about, planning, preparing, prioritization, time management, productivity. If you have any of those challenges, simply book a call with me and let's talk about it. Let me give you some specific tips and strategies based on whatever that challenge might be. So you can go to coachmebernadette.com/discoverycall and let's, you know, have a conversation and see what it is that I can do to support you, your team, and your business. All right. And then if you want to learn more about what we do here at Ball of Fire Coaching, then just go to ballofirecoaching.com. But I am so grateful that you are with us, and I'll look forward to having you with us again for another episode of Shedding the Corporate Mitch.