Most people reading this will be at home, trying to practice social distancing, helping in the global effort to flatten the curve of this awful pandemic. A significant part of our lives has been spent in front of a digital device. Your family is probably in another room, unless you have kids, in which case they are all over the place. Leadership requires a team, mobilization, relationships, and most importantly, delegation. That is difficult if you can not be with people. Videoconferencing helps, but we can easily start acting like a one-man or one-woman band. This post is a reminder, to myself and to you, of the importance of delegation.
AT THE HEART OF LEADERSHIP
One of the first posts I ever wrote was about delegation, and it was called the Lone Ranger and Leadership. I know you believe in delegation, as I do. You and I know that putting it into practice is not as easy as it may seem, but it is essential for effective leadership. Here are four reasons why delegation is so important.
It activates people. A well-managed team working together to accomplish a shared vision is a beautiful sight to behold. During this unique time in our world, people are at home, in some cases, with extra time in their hands. As leaders, our responsibility is to activate these believers. Consider how you can activate people under your influence for something creative that would help move the needle on your vision during this time.
It avoids the ceiling. Leadership and management writers talk about a “ceiling” that individuals and organizations reach, an invisible barrier that suddenly stalls growth, because it is dependent on your decision or work as a leader. The only way to break through the ceiling is by increasing your team’s capacity through the delegation of roles in your leadership.
It gets the job done. This has to do with an important barrier to delegation: our amazing capacity to get things done. The reason you and I are leaders is because we can do something – actually several “somethings” – really well. Delegating those tasks to others means that those jobs will not get accomplished in the ways we would do it. However, especially during urgent times like we are living in now, getting something done is as important (if not more) than getting it done perfectly (a.k.a. “my way”).
It attracts quality people. Leaders who activate people and release them to get the work done attract the best followers. Quality people are drawn to quality, and to opportunities to thrive.
Learning to mobilize others and delegate is at the heart of successful visionary leadership. We have been teaching these principles to leaders for 20 years. During this season of social separation, we have been developing a platform to help leaders grow. If you haven’t tried it yet, check out our free online trainings by clicking here.
Data and information are essential for knowing how effective your organization or ministry is, but knowing the right data to measure is the most important key to your success.