Organizational Reasons Your Leaders Don't Delegate
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If you have led for very long you have been confronted with the need to, desire to, and advice to delegate. Much has been written, including by me about this important skill and choice. But what is talked about far less often is the organizational role in delegation.
How successfully do your leaders delegate?
If you don’t love your answer, do just point the finger at them, look at your organizational context and culture to see how factors like these play a role. Ask yourself these questions. Your answers will help you see how your organization is helping – or hindering healthy and successful delegation in your organizations.
Are You Teaching Delegation Skills?
Most people would start and stop with this question. In my experience too few organizations give enough time and attention to this skill. Delegation is challenging for a variety of reasons, so teaching the skills are important, but not enough.
Is Delegation Expected?
If you have desired lists of leadership skills, or a defined set of leadership competencies, is delegation included? Is it listed in the job description? If you haven’t specifically defined delegation as an expectation of the role, why would you be surprised if you didn’t see it?
Do Leaders See Role Models?
Delegation isn’t a skill reserved for some leaders. If you want your leaders to delegate, they need to see it is important by example. Are senior leaders delegating successfully? If not, chances are the leaders who report to them aren’t, and so on. If delegation is important and a priority, is it seen throughout the organization? If so, you are more likely to see more of it.
What Do You Reward?
If non-delegating leaders are recognized, rewarded, and promoted, do you think they will start delegating in their next role? If the lone-wolf, burn-the-candle-at-both-ends, hero leaders are lauded, others will (rightly) realize that is what success looks like in your organization.
Are You Retaining Your Talent?
One of the top reasons people leave an organization is because of their leader. While there are plenty of reasons they might want to leave their boss, not getting the chance to learn new things, gain new experiences and grow in their roles are near the top. How do those things happen if there is no delegation?
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These five questions are a great place to start when considering the role your organization is - or isn’t – playing in supporting delegation among your leaders.
A version of this article first appeared on our blog.
What Do You Think?
Share your thoughts in the comments – which of these are the biggest barriers in your organization? (Or how have you created a healthy culture of delegation in your organization?)
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6moKevin Eikenberry - Very thought-provoking because it is true. Leadership (in general) is one of the most over-analyzed, fairly obvious, but poorly executed concepts on the planet. Everyone knows a great leader delegates well, but it is not rewarded or taught -- hence not practiced. I think the key is to reward the leader for delegating a task. That is different than rewarding the leader for the task itself, which should be reserved for the team member who did it.
Regional Sales Manager @ SHI International Corp | Sales Director Credentials
6moGreat points, Kevin. I agree with the challenges, but if we are going to develop the next generation of leaders, we have to delegate responsibility to others. They will never grow if we don't guide them and, yes, allow them to fail sometimes.