How I Safely Apply Radical Delegation While Being in the Details

Leadership is just a fancy word for Delegation. It's a continuous process of removing yourself from the equation and empowering your team.
This process transforms you from being a chief doer to a chief leader

“Delegation is the ultimate test of a leader’s competence.” — Stephen Covey

There is a big difference between doing and leading. You should be able to do Leadership in order to execute many tasks successfully.
Delegation is a win-win situation. While delegation enables availability (performance), it also contributes to your subordinates. It makes them feel trusted, increases engagement and ownership as well as promotes growth.

“Delegation enables ordinary people to attain extraordinary results.”
— Brian Tracy

You are in your role because someone delegated it to you. You are called to do the same for others.

Leadership is just a fancy word for Delegation.

Don't Build a Car; Build a Factory

Henry Ford didn't build cars; he built factories.
To practice radical delegation, work towards creating a safe environment that instills confidence in delegating.
Imagine yourself radically delegating while keep being in the details and having your point of view implemented. This can be achieved.

Clone Yourself

I'm joking.

Delegating your tasks to others who may have different experiences and qualities than you and expecting them to be completed to the same standard requires you to set strict guidelines.
The guidelines can be local, task-specific, or global, derived from culture, policies, and processes.

You define and set the guidelines; the guidelines can constantly be challenged, adjusted, and re-applied. Your subordinates should be fluent with the guidelines and act freely within them. A rule of thumb is to have these strict guidelines as high-level as possible to allow people the space for creativity and a sense of empowerment.

High-level global guidelines — can be related to the DNA of the people you would like to hire, the management approach, strategical priorities, decision-making framework, the departmental budgets, the working processes, whether you want to apply Hybrid, WLB, or WLH policy, etc.

Local guidelines — should be minimized and may be related to the timeframe of a specific task or project, the priorities, the style guide, interfaces, resources, etc.

The guidelines are whatever is super-important for you and what you would have been driven by when performing these tasks yourself.

What's essential is that guidelines are strict unless otherwise approved, and the rest is entirely up to the assignee, as you should strive to zero micro-management.

“Delegation is the foundation of all good management practices.” — Brian Tracy

Active Communication as the Currency for Delegation

Delegation helps you generate availability, allowing you to take on additional responsibilities. To cut off the correlation between the number of responsibilities and your ability to catch up and be in the details, you have to foster a culture of active communication. Delegation doesn't necessarily have to mean neglecting the details.

Besides the increased accessibility through radical delegation, which promotes a sense of security for others to approach you, seek your advice, and express their worries, it's vital to emphasize the need for proactive communication from your team. Rather than having to prompt them, they should enable you to leave them be, by assuring that they will keep you informed when necessary and understand the value of utilizing your advice as guidance in their work.

Shift Your Focus

As a manager, you act as an amplifier of your subordinates and surroundings. The quality of your leadership skills has a multiplying effect on people's performance. Considering this multiplier as L, a manager with X subordinates will have them perform like LX, while L can be both positive and negative.

“The best way to develop leadership skills is to practice delegation.”
— Richard Branson

That's why you should radically delegate and generate maximum availability to furnish and apply your leadership skills.

Do Leadership.

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Interested in delving deeper into this topic or need personalized guidance? Reach out to me at orenykb@gmail.com for dedicated consultancy tailored to your specific needs. I’m here to support you on your journey.