All by myself

The bane of the extremely capable is that they tend to do things themselves. They are masters of rationalization: it is faster if they do it. Only they have the experience or judgement to make the call. They don't have time to delegate. Or they don't know how.

The result is too-long working hours, little growth from others on the team, and often a feeling of dis-empowerment from staff. Ultimately it leads to employee turnover, or worse, employee disengagement.

While most managers delegate at least something, everyone falls into the non-delegation trap from time to time. To avoid the problem, consider that tasks fall into three categories: those that you can do by yourself, those tasks that you know well that can be delegated, and those that should be done by the team.

This week's action item: Look at your to-do list, right now, and subdivide the tasks into these three categories. Put other people's names next to all of the tasks that you know well, and schedule meetings with each person to begin the delegation process. For any team tasks, choose a leader other than yourself, and learn to be a coach. The more you delegate, the more capable your team will grow to be. And since your professional success is dependent on those around you, the stronger your team, the stronger you'll be.

Randall Craig is an expert on Career Planning, Work-Life Balance, and Networking; to find out how his workshops, webinars, and keynotes can help your team or add to your event, contact him through www.PersonalBalanceSheet.com, or by email at editor@ptadvisors.com.

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Copyright © 2009 Knowledge to Action Press and Randall Craig. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: July 14, 2009