September 5, 2024 • 14 mins
Could your leadership effectiveness be limited by your inability to delegate? Join Tanya D Harrison as she unpacks why over 70% of leaders find delegation challenging and how a shift in mindset can liberate you from control issues and lack of trust. Learn how to view your team as a vital resource to accelerate your goals, rather than a hindrance. This episode promises actionable insights to transform your leadership style and elevate your team's performance, freeing you for higher-level strategic priorities.
Unlock the secrets of effective delegation with practical tactics that go beyond theory. Tonya guides you through identifying tasks that are exclusively yours and those ripe for delegation. Discover a filtering system that helps you evaluate the impact of delegating specific tasks, from freeing up your time to fostering team development. Plus, find out how to match the right team member to the right task, ensuring greater productivity and less burnout. Tune in and take the first step to becoming a more efficient and empowered leader!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tonya (00:00):
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to another episode of
the Operations Toolbox forBusiness Leaders podcast.
I'm your host, T D Harrison,and today we're going to be
talking about a topic that isextremely critical for every
leader.
Critical for every leader,that's what I said.
(00:20):
That topic is delegation that'swhat I said.
That topic is delegation.
Delegation is extremelyimportant to the success of
every leader and yet more than70 percent of leaders struggle
to delegate effectively.
70 percent that's more thanhalf of us that are struggling
(00:49):
or have struggled withdelegating effectively.
You see, effective delegationis an art.
It's an art and it's a sciencethat can literally elevate your
team's performance and give youthe bandwidth to focus on
strategic priorities.
This is the difference frombeing burned out and overwhelmed
and achieving the things thatyou need to achieve.
(01:11):
So why do leaders struggle withdelegating?
First of all, I want you tothink about the fact that most
of us are extremely highperforming leaders, extremely
(01:31):
high performing leaders.
A lot of us are used to doingthings alone and doing it very
well.
So when we talk about somecommon reasons, I want you to
think about that.
Common reasons that leadersstruggle with delegation include
losing control We've alwaysbeen in control.
Think about it Lack of trust intheir team, which is something
that we can deal with, believingthat they can do the task
(01:55):
quicker or better themselves,and concerns about the team
capability.
These are all things that wecan control right.
So we're going to get to theeffect of delegating.
So that's why, when we'retalking about delegating, one of
the things I talk to leadersabout is the mindset, because a
(02:16):
lot of these start in the mind.
When you have been asolopreneur or a independent
contributor for so long andyou've been successful and
effective at it, you tend tohave some of these doubts, right
(02:36):
.
So that's why changing themindset is going to be so
critical is going to be socritical.
You have to now think about thefact that if you really wanna
go quicker and you really wannago faster, if you really want to
go quicker and you really wantto go further, then you need
more than just yourself, andthis is where your team comes in
(02:59):
to help you get to where it isthat you want to go faster and
to get further.
That's the mindset that you nowneed to have.
My team is there to help me.
It's not to cause me extra work, so I shouldn't have a team and
(03:20):
still be burned out and workingall of these hours and doing
all of these things Nine timesout of 10, it means that you
haven't delegated effectively oryou haven't hired the right
team.
So the number one thing thatyou have to do is deal with your
mindset.
So you need to start working onthat, but that's not gonna
happen overnight.
(03:40):
I'm gonna give you some tacticsthat you can implement as
you're working on your mindset.
All right, these are some thingsthat I've learned over time
that have been very successfuland helpful in my leadership
career and on my journey.
The first thing is identifyingthe right tasks.
(04:01):
Now, we all have a lot of tasks.
When I'm working with myclients, I like to get them to
identify all of the tasks thatthey do and then put an asterisk
by the ones that only they cando.
This is because it requirestheir direct involvement or it
requires their skill set, sothey're gonna put a little
(04:23):
asterisk next to those.
Now, that means that all of theother tasks that we have they
are up for grabs.
They could potentially bedelegated.
Now, when we're thinking aboutwhat tasks we want to delegate,
you want to run through what Ilike to call a filtering system,
where you're going to askyourself a couple of different
(04:44):
questions, right?
So some of these questions willbe like if I delegate this task
, is it going to free me up todo something else that is more
important that truly requires meto do?
Or will delegating this taskhelp someone else learn a new
skill?
(05:04):
Does delegating this task playinto some of the strengths that
I already have on my team?
Does delegating this task allowme to achieve some of my goals
quicker?
Does it allow my department ormy business to run more
efficiently?
These are some of the questionsthat you want to ask yourself
(05:28):
after you have identified all ofthe tasks that can be delegated
.
Now that you know all of thetasks that could potentially be
delegated, now you have toidentify the right team member.
Now, if you have a small team,this is going to be more
dependent on the skills, whereasif you have a larger team, it
(05:49):
could be based on capacity,right?
So if you have a large team andyou have several people that
perform the same task, it couldbe based on the capacity of the
different ones, right?
So think about your team.
Now that you have all of yourtasks listed, you can start
identifying the right teammember.
(06:10):
This is going to be dependenton a couple of things, right?
So when you look across yourteam whether it's a large team
or a small team you want to belooking at a couple of things.
It's a large team or a smallteam?
You want to be looking at acouple of things.
What are the skill sets of myteam?
I need to understand thestrengths, the weaknesses and
the potential, right?
So somebody may not have astrength yet, but they have the
(06:32):
potential to get there.
I need to be able to understandthese things about my team
before I start just delegating.
It's not always about choosingthe person who's most
experienced.
It may be a task that requiresan open mindset, so I have to
consider all of those things.
I'm looking to find the bestfit for the task.
(06:56):
I'm going to look at my teammembers.
I'm going to look at theircurrent workload, because I have
to consider capacity.
I don't want to put them in theposition that I was in, where
I'm burned out and now I'mburning them out.
So I definitely want to look atcapacity as well.
I want to think about theconversations that I've had with
(07:17):
team members, right?
So some of them may expressthat they like doing certain
things.
They may like doing graphics,they may like doing reporting.
I want to think about thosethings as well, because we also
want to make our team membersknow that they are an important
part of the team, and a part ofthat is letting them contribute
(07:39):
at the level which they'd liketo contribute.
This may be going above andbeyond and doing that they
weren't initially assigned to do, but they've expressed interest
in doing it.
Think about all of these thingswhen you're talking about
identifying the right teammember.
So, now that I have my task andnow that I know who I want to
(08:02):
delegate to, the third tacticyou want to use is you want to
make sure, when you areassigning the task or the
project, that you provideguidance and support.
Remember the story I talkedabout at the beginning of the
podcast, where, if you've everfelt like somebody has dumped on
(08:23):
you, they've given you a taskand ghost it.
We don't want to be thatmanager, we don't want to be
that leader.
So we want to make sure thatwhen I'm assigning the task, I
am clear and make sure that theyunderstand exactly what the
task is, what the project is,what it encompasses and what my
(08:45):
expectation is right.
All of that has to be clear.
I have to give them clearguidance, and then follow-up is
crucial to ensure the task isprogressing as expected.
So I need to follow up, but Iwant to do this in a way that
(09:06):
doesn't come across asmicromanaging, so there's a
balance when it comes to this.
I want to make sure that theyknow that I am here, so I could
do this by setting up regularmeetings to check in how are you
doing?
Do you have any questions?
Anything like that.
I want to make sure theyunderstand that they can reach
(09:30):
out to me and ask me questions,if they need to ask me questions
.
This is going to build trust onyour side and their side on
your side and they their side.
Now, because you have providedthem with this guidance, because
you are providing littlefollow-ups throughout the way,
(09:50):
you know how the task or theproject is progressing.
They know that they can dependon you to be there.
Now you are developing thistrust.
This is one of the things thatusually stops a lot of leaders
from delegating because theydon't.
They don't trust, they'relosing control.
So this allows you to have thebest of both worlds.
(10:13):
Now the last one, number four,this tactic, this part of it
this is where A lot of leadersstruggle the most.
Relinquish ownership.
Give it to them.
It does not mean that it's noton your radar anymore that's not
(10:35):
what it means but it means thatyou are now going to be able to
turn this over to them assomething that they are going to
do Right.
So, as a business leader, theythey are going to do Right.
So, as a business leader,they're still going to report to
you.
You're still going to know howthings are progressing.
But when you relinquishownership, you're also giving
(10:57):
them a certain amount offlexibility.
Think about it.
You've already provided themwith the essentials.
They have clear expectations,they have deadlines, but you
want to give them room to do itthe way that they need to do it
(11:20):
Right, as long as it gets donein the time that you said it
needs to get done, and theoutcome is the same.
You want them to make it theirs, because what happens is they
may find a better way ofachieving that task or their
project, and when they feel likeit is theirs now they have
(11:45):
ownership of it the quality ofthe task or the project goes up.
Okay.
So this flexibility can lead toinnovation and, again,
ownership.
They're going to find good teammembers.
(12:05):
I'm telling you right now.
They are going to find moreefficient or creative ways to
achieve the desired outcome, andthat's exactly what you want.
When we hire people, we're notlooking for mini-me's, we're
looking for people that cancompliment us.
We're looking for people thathave areas of strength that we
(12:28):
don't necessarily have.
We're looking for people that,ultimately, are going to make us
better, our team better, ourbusiness better.
So remember, your role as aleader is to guide, not to
dictate, every single step.
You want to empower your teamto take ownership of their tasks
(12:50):
, make decisions and even makemistakes.
I know, I know, I know, butremember, we make mistakes as
well, so we want them to makemistakes.
That's where the real growthhappens.
Okay, so those are the fourareas that you can start working
on Now.
(13:10):
Got to have a call to action aswe wrap up today's episode.
I want to challenge you to thinkabout your delegation habits.
Are there tasks that you'reholding on to that someone else
on your team could handle?
Are you creating opportunitiesfor your team members to grow
(13:31):
and develop through delegation?
Are you allowing them to beinnovative, more efficient and
take ownership.
Now, if you're ready to elevateyour leadership game, you got
to start by identifying one task.
We're starting slow.
(13:51):
Identify one task that you candelegate this week.
Run through the steps andremember great leaders build
great teams.
An effective delegation is akey part of that process.
All right, that is it.
If you found this episodehelpful, don't forget to
(14:14):
subscribe to the OperationsToolbox for Business Leaders
podcast.
Share it with your network,share it with your friends,
share it with your peers andleave us a review.
Your feedback helps us tocreate more content that serves
your needs, and if you have anytopics you'd like us to cover in
(14:35):
future episodes, be sure todrop us a message.
Thank you for tuning in anduntil next time, keep leading
with purpose and precision.
I'll see you soon.
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to another episode of
the Operations Toolbox forBusiness Leaders podcast.
I'm your host, T D Harrison,and today we're going to be
talking about a topic that isextremely critical for every
leader.
Critical for every leader,that's what I said.
(00:20):
That topic is delegation that'swhat I said.
That topic is delegation.
Delegation is extremelyimportant to the success of
every leader and yet more than70 percent of leaders struggle
to delegate effectively.
70 percent that's more thanhalf of us that are struggling
(00:49):
or have struggled withdelegating effectively.
You see, effective delegationis an art.
It's an art and it's a sciencethat can literally elevate your
team's performance and give youthe bandwidth to focus on
strategic priorities.
This is the difference frombeing burned out and overwhelmed
and achieving the things thatyou need to achieve.
(01:11):
So why do leaders struggle withdelegating?
First of all, I want you tothink about the fact that most
of us are extremely highperforming leaders, extremely
(01:31):
high performing leaders.
A lot of us are used to doingthings alone and doing it very
well.
So when we talk about somecommon reasons, I want you to
think about that.
Common reasons that leadersstruggle with delegation include
losing control We've alwaysbeen in control.
Think about it Lack of trust intheir team, which is something
that we can deal with, believingthat they can do the task
(01:55):
quicker or better themselves,and concerns about the team
capability.
These are all things that wecan control right.
So we're going to get to theeffect of delegating.
So that's why, when we'retalking about delegating, one of
the things I talk to leadersabout is the mindset, because a
(02:16):
lot of these start in the mind.
When you have been asolopreneur or a independent
contributor for so long andyou've been successful and
effective at it, you tend tohave some of these doubts, right
(02:36):
.
So that's why changing themindset is going to be so
critical is going to be socritical.
You have to now think about thefact that if you really wanna
go quicker and you really wannago faster, if you really want to
go quicker and you really wantto go further, then you need
more than just yourself, andthis is where your team comes in
(02:59):
to help you get to where it isthat you want to go faster and
to get further.
That's the mindset that you nowneed to have.
My team is there to help me.
It's not to cause me extra work, so I shouldn't have a team and
(03:20):
still be burned out and workingall of these hours and doing
all of these things Nine timesout of 10, it means that you
haven't delegated effectively oryou haven't hired the right
team.
So the number one thing thatyou have to do is deal with your
mindset.
So you need to start working onthat, but that's not gonna
happen overnight.
(03:40):
I'm gonna give you some tacticsthat you can implement as
you're working on your mindset.
All right, these are some thingsthat I've learned over time
that have been very successfuland helpful in my leadership
career and on my journey.
The first thing is identifyingthe right tasks.
(04:01):
Now, we all have a lot of tasks.
When I'm working with myclients, I like to get them to
identify all of the tasks thatthey do and then put an asterisk
by the ones that only they cando.
This is because it requirestheir direct involvement or it
requires their skill set, sothey're gonna put a little
(04:23):
asterisk next to those.
Now, that means that all of theother tasks that we have they
are up for grabs.
They could potentially bedelegated.
Now, when we're thinking aboutwhat tasks we want to delegate,
you want to run through what Ilike to call a filtering system,
where you're going to askyourself a couple of different
(04:44):
questions, right?
So some of these questions willbe like if I delegate this task
, is it going to free me up todo something else that is more
important that truly requires meto do?
Or will delegating this taskhelp someone else learn a new
skill?
(05:04):
Does delegating this task playinto some of the strengths that
I already have on my team?
Does delegating this task allowme to achieve some of my goals
quicker?
Does it allow my department ormy business to run more
efficiently?
These are some of the questionsthat you want to ask yourself
(05:28):
after you have identified all ofthe tasks that can be delegated
.
Now that you know all of thetasks that could potentially be
delegated, now you have toidentify the right team member.
Now, if you have a small team,this is going to be more
dependent on the skills, whereasif you have a larger team, it
(05:49):
could be based on capacity,right?
So if you have a large team andyou have several people that
perform the same task, it couldbe based on the capacity of the
different ones, right?
So think about your team.
Now that you have all of yourtasks listed, you can start
identifying the right teammember.
(06:10):
This is going to be dependenton a couple of things, right?
So when you look across yourteam whether it's a large team
or a small team you want to belooking at a couple of things.
It's a large team or a smallteam?
You want to be looking at acouple of things.
What are the skill sets of myteam?
I need to understand thestrengths, the weaknesses and
the potential, right?
So somebody may not have astrength yet, but they have the
(06:32):
potential to get there.
I need to be able to understandthese things about my team
before I start just delegating.
It's not always about choosingthe person who's most
experienced.
It may be a task that requiresan open mindset, so I have to
consider all of those things.
I'm looking to find the bestfit for the task.
(06:56):
I'm going to look at my teammembers.
I'm going to look at theircurrent workload, because I have
to consider capacity.
I don't want to put them in theposition that I was in, where
I'm burned out and now I'mburning them out.
So I definitely want to look atcapacity as well.
I want to think about theconversations that I've had with
(07:17):
team members, right?
So some of them may expressthat they like doing certain
things.
They may like doing graphics,they may like doing reporting.
I want to think about thosethings as well, because we also
want to make our team membersknow that they are an important
part of the team, and a part ofthat is letting them contribute
(07:39):
at the level which they'd liketo contribute.
This may be going above andbeyond and doing that they
weren't initially assigned to do, but they've expressed interest
in doing it.
Think about all of these thingswhen you're talking about
identifying the right teammember.
So, now that I have my task andnow that I know who I want to
(08:02):
delegate to, the third tacticyou want to use is you want to
make sure, when you areassigning the task or the
project, that you provideguidance and support.
Remember the story I talkedabout at the beginning of the
podcast, where, if you've everfelt like somebody has dumped on
(08:23):
you, they've given you a taskand ghost it.
We don't want to be thatmanager, we don't want to be
that leader.
So we want to make sure thatwhen I'm assigning the task, I
am clear and make sure that theyunderstand exactly what the
task is, what the project is,what it encompasses and what my
(08:45):
expectation is right.
All of that has to be clear.
I have to give them clearguidance, and then follow-up is
crucial to ensure the task isprogressing as expected.
So I need to follow up, but Iwant to do this in a way that
(09:06):
doesn't come across asmicromanaging, so there's a
balance when it comes to this.
I want to make sure that theyknow that I am here, so I could
do this by setting up regularmeetings to check in how are you
doing?
Do you have any questions?
Anything like that.
I want to make sure theyunderstand that they can reach
(09:30):
out to me and ask me questions,if they need to ask me questions
.
This is going to build trust onyour side and their side on
your side and they their side.
Now, because you have providedthem with this guidance, because
you are providing littlefollow-ups throughout the way,
(09:50):
you know how the task or theproject is progressing.
They know that they can dependon you to be there.
Now you are developing thistrust.
This is one of the things thatusually stops a lot of leaders
from delegating because theydon't.
They don't trust, they'relosing control.
So this allows you to have thebest of both worlds.
(10:13):
Now the last one, number four,this tactic, this part of it
this is where A lot of leadersstruggle the most.
Relinquish ownership.
Give it to them.
It does not mean that it's noton your radar anymore that's not
(10:35):
what it means but it means thatyou are now going to be able to
turn this over to them assomething that they are going to
do Right.
So, as a business leader, theythey are going to do Right.
So, as a business leader,they're still going to report to
you.
You're still going to know howthings are progressing.
But when you relinquishownership, you're also giving
(10:57):
them a certain amount offlexibility.
Think about it.
You've already provided themwith the essentials.
They have clear expectations,they have deadlines, but you
want to give them room to do itthe way that they need to do it
(11:20):
Right, as long as it gets donein the time that you said it
needs to get done, and theoutcome is the same.
You want them to make it theirs, because what happens is they
may find a better way ofachieving that task or their
project, and when they feel likeit is theirs now they have
(11:45):
ownership of it the quality ofthe task or the project goes up.
Okay.
So this flexibility can lead toinnovation and, again,
ownership.
They're going to find good teammembers.
(12:05):
I'm telling you right now.
They are going to find moreefficient or creative ways to
achieve the desired outcome, andthat's exactly what you want.
When we hire people, we're notlooking for mini-me's, we're
looking for people that cancompliment us.
We're looking for people thathave areas of strength that we
(12:28):
don't necessarily have.
We're looking for people that,ultimately, are going to make us
better, our team better, ourbusiness better.
So remember, your role as aleader is to guide, not to
dictate, every single step.
You want to empower your teamto take ownership of their tasks
(12:50):
, make decisions and even makemistakes.
I know, I know, I know, butremember, we make mistakes as
well, so we want them to makemistakes.
That's where the real growthhappens.
Okay, so those are the fourareas that you can start working
on Now.
(13:10):
Got to have a call to action aswe wrap up today's episode.
I want to challenge you to thinkabout your delegation habits.
Are there tasks that you'reholding on to that someone else
on your team could handle?
Are you creating opportunitiesfor your team members to grow
(13:31):
and develop through delegation?
Are you allowing them to beinnovative, more efficient and
take ownership.
Now, if you're ready to elevateyour leadership game, you got
to start by identifying one task.
We're starting slow.
(13:51):
Identify one task that you candelegate this week.
Run through the steps andremember great leaders build
great teams.
An effective delegation is akey part of that process.
All right, that is it.
If you found this episodehelpful, don't forget to
(14:14):
subscribe to the OperationsToolbox for Business Leaders
podcast.
Share it with your network,share it with your friends,
share it with your peers andleave us a review.
Your feedback helps us tocreate more content that serves
your needs, and if you have anytopics you'd like us to cover in
(14:35):
future episodes, be sure todrop us a message.
Thank you for tuning in anduntil next time, keep leading
with purpose and precision.
I'll see you soon.
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