D. L. Moody
Most leaders agree that delegation is critical for business success. They agree in theory. Yet in practice quite a few managers find themselves working overtime on tasks that should be completed by subordinates. I am continually saddened by the gap between intent and action. Too many managers don’t delegate when they ought, even though they believe that delegation is important. What stands in the way of effective delegation?
The most common excuse I hear is time. Or more precisely, not enough time. Someone else could do the work, but the manager cannot devote the time to developing them. This sounds like a Catch-22: “I don’t have enough time and energy to coach you, so I’ll continue to expend time and energy doing your work in addition to my own.”
This excuse doesn’t hold up under close inspection. An investment in employee development will pay off over time as the manager is able to focus more energy on other, more important activities. One of my clients committed to spend several hours every month coaching each of his managers individually. At first, he was concerned that his operation might suffer if he spent fifteen hours each month developing his management team. But he agreed to try.
Surprisingly, after only a few months he found himself spending less time in the office. Now that his subordinates were fully tackling their job assignments, he was freed up for strategic projects. Every month, he is gaining back more than the fifteen hours he is investing.
How much time are you investing in developing subordinates? How much time are you wasting on tasks that they should complete? How much time are you devoting to leadership tasks that only you can handle?
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