A short talk (YouTube transcript) on the importance of delegation for scaling companies. Covers benefits of good delegation (saves time, develops people, grooms successors, motivates) and costs of poor delegation (frustration, demotivation, failed tasks). Presents guidance for deciding what to delegate (use SMARTER criteria) and explains three integrated elements to apply when delegating: authority (can be delegated), responsibility (assigned but not relinquished), and accountability (the delegate’s obligation to deliver).
Chapters
Every single scaling company will reach a point where delegation is essential for future growth. When this happens, it can be hard to let go. But if you can truly empower the brilliant people you've surrounded yourself with to offset what's bogging you down while providing them with the chance to take on more, the returns will be tremendous. Delegation is a core element of successful leadership in companies large and small. Good delegation saves time, it develops people, grooms the successor, and it motivates. It also provides growth and development opportunities and allows a leader to focus on other priorities. Poor delegation, on the other hand, will cause you frustration, it demotivates and confuses the other people, and it fails to achieve the task or purpose itself. Delegation often fails for a number of reasons, lack of clarity, the preparation and resources available to the delegate, and choosing the wrong person in the first place. As such, delegation is definitely a skill that's worth improving. Let's start with what to delegate. When deciding, use the same rule you apply for goal setting. Smart or better Smarter, Specific, measurable, agreed, realistic, time bound, ethical, recordable. Then have a clear understanding between yourself and the delegate. Because every time you delegate work, three core elements are at authority, responsibility, and accountability. They form an integrated process and must be applied together. The first, authority can be delegated. As a leader, you can transfer pieces of your formal authority to another teammate when assigning a task to that person. The second, responsibility, on the other hand, cannot be delegated, but it can be assigned. As a leader, you can assign responsibility to another team member in terms of the results that need to be achieved. However, you need to keep in mind that you only assign responsibility to your teammate. You can never entirely hand off any of your responsibilities to someone else. And lastly, the third element, accountability. As a result of accepting an assignment, your teammate gives you a promise, either expressed or implied, to do their best in carrying it out. Having taken on the task, your teammate is obligated to complete it and thus is held accountable by you for the results. Now let's go delegate and grow.
