Delegation is a a key skill to master for leadership success. In addition to reducing the manager's to do list, delegation helps grow employees, motivates them and develops future leaders.

Robert's Delegation Dilemma

Robert was puzzled. He had just marked the first anniversary of his promotion to area supervisor. His initial excitement had waned and he wondered if he made the right decision. His to-do list was longer than ever and despite working longer and longer hours, he was falling behind.

The Leadership Wizard Suggests Delegation

Robert had fallen into a typical trap for a new supervisor or manager. As a new leader he didn't realize that he needs to view his technical ability as a foundation and now focus on getting things done through others.

Robert called on the Leadership Wizard who prescribed a magic delegation potion. The Leadership Wizard said that most new managers think delegation is difficult, when in reality it is quite simple.

Almost Everything Can Be Delegated

With some guidance from the Leadership Wizard, Robert listed all of the tasks he was responsible for, and then divided them into three categories.

Category A: Tasks Others Can Do Better Than You

Robert identified all the tasks that members of his team could take over immediately. In fact they would do them better than Robert because they had more time to focus on those tasks. This knocked off a third of the items on Robert's list. He admitted that he kept doing those tasks because he was good at them and because he kind of liked them.

Category B: Tasks Others Could Do With a Little Training

Robert then identified all the tasks that his team members could do with a small amount of guidance, training or coaching from him. This was a longer list than in category A, however Robert could see that it wouldn't take too long to get people to take over those tasks.

Category C: Tasks Others Can Do With More Extensive Development

There were relatively few items in this list and Robert realized it would take more time to develop people to take these tasks on. The Leadership Wizard pointed out that Robert would have time to do this when he got rid of the tasks in categories A and B.

Robert paused for a moment and the Leadership Wizard asked what was wrong. Robert finally admitted that he wouldn't have much to do if he actually delegated all that he could. He wondered if that would make him less valuable in the eyes of his boss. The Leadership Wizard explained that Robert would be more valuable as a leader when he mastered the art of delegation.

The Leadership Wizard explained that in most of the organizations he visited, managers were very busy doing work and making decisions that could easily be done by people one or two levels lower in the organization. These managers then complained about being over worked.

How Could the Leadership Wizard Bring Magic to Your Leadership Team?

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