Being a good leader means…delegating

08 Apr Being a good leader means…delegating

I wanted to talk briefly about delegation today.

Part of being a good leader is knowing how to delegate some of your asks to others. Aside from freeing you up to focus on the really big stuff, delegation lets your employees show their true colors and grow. 

But more importantly, it lets them know that you trust them.

Microsoft.com has a great post of being a good leader, and here was one of the points that I liked:

Don't be a monarch. Thoughtful leadership likely means you already have a talented work force in place. That's terrific. But be careful not set up a throne room in the process. Accidental leaders often inadvertently establish a system of guidance that's unnecessarily restrictive. Guide employees, but don't implement more parameters than are absolutely necessary. “It's important to influence the people with whom you work,” says Segil. “Don't see your business as a hierarchy.” 

Like parents who are so involved in their kids’ lives that they are termed “helicopter parents”, some managers have the tendency to hover around and make sure that employees do the task exactly as the manager would have done it.

But that stifles creativity and makes the employee feel like a child.

I have had to learn this lesson myself, as my business grew and 24 hours were no longer enough to manage it. I wanted to spend more time with my wife and daughter as well, so bringing on key members like Alex Delacruz and Christine McLaurin was one of the best decisions that I made. In fact, they have often come up with ideas that I never would have thought of, and I am grateful for that.

Learning how to delegate is an art, but is key to becoming a good leader.

To your success…