How to Delegate: An Important Step Toward Leadership
An Important Step Toward Leadership
What should senior executives do?
This is not just a personal issue. Your company's future depends on what you do next. To get your organization out of its current stagnation, you must change the way you interact with your work; there are three stages in the transition from CC&BW (chief cook and bottle washer) to CEO (source of management and direction for the business). They are as follows:
- * Understand your highest value contribution to the company and focus on that role.
- * Recognize your position as a leader and own the job.
- * Delegate everything else and hold others accountable.
This article discusses the issue of delegation, or "delegating" work.
The Problem
You probably believe that a change in management is necessary to take your company's performance to the next level. And hopefully, you've also realized that the change needed is on your own: as CEO (or senior management at the division level), your job includes having a vision, inspiring senior management and staff, and fostering important relationships with customers, vendors, investors, and the public.
You now need to let go of the things you have valued, such as product design, recruiting, and day-to-day sales and focus on your role as CEO. What about the things you have been doing? Delegate them. Assign the work to someone else. This may not seem like a big deal, but why would you write an article about it?
Would you delegate? Of course, I do. But do you delegate important things? The things you "think you can do better". The things you are "best at". You probably won't. The question is, should you?
Your Contribution to Your Highest Value
Think about your highest value contribution to your firm. Which of your activities generates the most revenue, profit, market share, etc.? Where can you get the most bang for your buck? As many CEOs do, your greatest leverage is in mobilizing the forces around you: your senior staff, your employees, and your key customers, prospects, and vendors. Everything else is secondary in terms of impact.
So the answer is yes. Even the things you "do best" should be let go of. And make sure it is done right. And make sure it is done right and delivered on time.
The Cost of Holding On
Now, there is a thorny issue. Many executives refrain from delegating responsibilities that have been deemed "important." They fear that the job will not be done right. Or it is not done on time because no one else can do it. Or proper attention is not given. Or something. Or something else.
Give up. The more you hold on to important functions, the more your organization's growth will be stunted. Your company will suffer in areas where you think you are an expert.
Product design.
You are the expert, but your absence at a customer meeting interrupts the development of a critical component. Staffing. You are unable to hire two engineers because you are out of town for a meeting with an investment bank and you have not signed on. Sales. Negotiations for an important deal are stalled because you are attending an Asian meeting with a vendor.
In each of these critical functions, you are stifled. And you feel, of course, that "I have to be involved." No, you don't. To the extent that the staff is not trained to perform these functions, the growth of the enterprise will be slowed.
Besides the fear that the job will go wrong, there is another, more insidious reason why senior managers (especially entrepreneurs) do not delegate tasks. If you aren't doing what "matters," you become redundant. Deadweight. Overhead. What would you do if you had a brilliant VP of Sales or Chief Technology Officer?
You feel this way because you have not completed transitions 1 and 2. You are struggling to understand how you yourself are creating value in the company and have not fully assumed the role of leader. Once these two transitions are complete, you will not have time to make the rest of the transitions. Delegate, not delegate.
Many executives delegate this way. John, I need you to take on this project. It has to be done by next Thursday. Thanks." That's it. And when the job comes back incomplete, they are furious. What happened? There was a lack of accountability. The mechanisms were neglected to ensure that things would go according to plan.
There are five elements to successful delegation.
1. give the task to someone who is capable of getting the job done.
This does not mean that the person has all the skills to perform, but it does mean that he or she can commandeer the appropriate resources. Sometimes the first step in a project is education. Perhaps your representative will have to attend seminars or take courses to get up to speed.
2. communicate the exact requirements for satisfaction.
Timeframes, outcomes, budget constraints, etc. must all be clearly stated. Anything less is a condition for failure. It's like the old basketball story that if there is no net, the players don't know where to hit the ball.
3. develop a plan.
Depending on the complexity of the project, the first step is to develop a plan. The plan should include resources, approaches and methodologies, timelines, measures, and milestones. Even simple projects require a plan.
4. create accountability mechanisms.
If the project will take place over the next six weeks, schedule an interim meeting in two weeks. Also, provide weekly conference calls and e-mail status reports. Provide a mechanism for jointly evaluating progress and correcting course. Doing so will help keep the project and its stakeholders on track.
5. gain buy-in.
Timeframes are often dictated by the external environment. Still, the delegator needs to agree to the task at hand. If you say, "This must be done by next Tuesday," they must agree that it is doable. Instead, ask them this." Can you please do it by Tuesday?" To you, this may seem like a bit of a bailout, but this step is often overlooked. Whenever possible, let your people set the schedule and make the plan. All you have to do is provide guidance and sign off. General Patton said, "Don't tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will amaze you with their ingenuity."
If you skip even one of the above steps, the chances of things turning out the way you want them to are drastically reduced. On the other hand, if you strictly follow the steps, the odds are much more favorable. You may be thinking, "Isn't this more work than doing it myself? No, it does not.
That's because it takes time to do the following
- Set goals,
- Review the plan, and
- monitor progress,
is not equal to the time it takes to execute. That is how leverage works. This is how you multiply your efforts.
(Sometimes it takes longer to tell them than to do it yourself. Anyway, delegate it. It will be easier next time.)
Above, I mentioned projects. But I don't mean to imply that delegation is limited to individual tasks or issues. We delegate ongoing functions as well. The process is the same in both cases.
As an exercise, ask yourself, "What do I not want to delegate? List the reasons why. Identify the best person in your organization, not you, to take on this project or function. Then, convene a meeting. The meeting should begin with step 1 above.
If you do not have someone you can assign to a critical function, you will need to carefully monitor your staff. It may be time to hire the right person. If you do not have the revenue to support an increase in staff, consider what is holding back growth.
Review your relationship with your assistants and secretaries. Are you giving them a fair share of the workload? Are you giving them sufficiently advanced work? Are they ready to upgrade?
Some situations need to be jumped into again. You may be the only person in the company with specific technical knowledge, your insights may accelerate the design process, or you may have a long-standing relationship with a vendor or customer. Go ahead, jump in. And you will complete the project and return to your leadership position.
Oh, one more thing.
The only point of delegating something is if it allows you to focus on creating greater value for the company. If you don't have time to tinker with the company website, don't delegate the hiring manager's job. If you are spending your time on purchasing, don't hire a VP of sales. The greatest leverage you have is to lead the company. Devote your time to that.
related: The Art of Leadership