A short spoken guidance piece explaining why delegation matters for leaders (saves time, develops people, grooms successors, increases focus) and presenting a practical taxonomy: ten progressively increasing "levels of delegation" each illustrated by sample phrases. The speaker emphasizes agreeing the appropriate level of authority with the delegatee and using these levels to empower people and grow organizational capability.
Chapters
If you can truly empower those around you, offsetting what's bogging you down, while providing them with a chance to take on more, learn, grow and thrive, the returns will be tremendous. Delegation is a core element of successful leadership in companies. Good delegation saves time, develops people, grooms a successor, and motivates. It provides growth and development opportunities and allows the leader to focus on other priorities. As you delegate, it is important to ask the other person what level of authority they feel comfortable being given. Some people are confident, others less so. It is your responsibility as a leader, as the person delegating to agree with them on what level of freedom is most appropriate so that the job is done effectively and with minimal involvement from you. And so here are 10 levels and corresponding phrases to choose from. Level 1 is expressed by phrases like wait to be told or do exactly what I say or follow these instructions precisely. Level one is delegation with no freedom at all. Level two look into this and tell me the situation. I'll decide. This is asking for investigation and analysis, but not recommendation. The person delegating retains responsibility for assessing options prior to making decisions. Level 3 Look into this and tell me the situation. We'll decide together. This level of delegation enables the analysis and decision to be a shared process which can be helpful in coaching and development. Level 4 Tell me the situation and what help you need from me in assessing and handling it. Then we'll decide. This opens the possibility now of greater freedom, subject to both people agreeing this is appropriate. Level 5 Give me your analysis of the situation and your recommendation. I'll let you know whether you can go ahead. This asks for analysis and recommendation, but you will check the thinking before deciding. Level 6 Decide, let me know your decision and then wait for my go ahead before proceeding. The other person is now trusted to assess and they're deemed competent enough to decide and implement to. However, for reasons for example task importance, the boss maintains the control of time. Level 7 Decide and let me know your decision. Then go ahead unless I say not to. Now the other person begins to control the action. This subtle increase in responsibility saves time. The default is now positive go ahead rather than negative. Wait, decide and take action. Let me know what you did and what happened. This delegation level takes even more time. Decide and take action. You do not need to check back with me. This is the most freedom that you can give to another person when you still need to retain responsibility for the activity. Feedback and review remain helpful and important, although the relationship is more likely one of mentoring rather than coaching. And finally, level 10 decide where action needs to be taken and manage the situation accordingly. It's your area of responsibility now. This is the most freedom that you can give to another person. Now, let's go delegate and grow.
