The significance of delegation

Think of a time when you trusted someone’s character, but not their competence. How did it affect your ability to work together? Now, think of a time when you trusted someone’s competence, but not their character. What was that like?
These insightful questions are posed in my friend Barry Rellaford’s book, “A Slice of Trust.”
This book’s illustration — through a parable of a baker selling his goods — of delegating tasks and extending smart trust is an insightful reminder of how interconnected these concepts are. Done well, it enabled the baker to delight his customers and begin to scale his business.
The relationship between delegation and trust
In order to grow our business or be able to take on more responsibility, we have to become great delegators.
This concept is so critical for growth and retention of associates, yet we’re really never taught how to do it well. What has to happen for delegation to work?
There is such a relationship between delegation and trust. Trust is a product of both character (who I am) and competence (what I can do).
Having worked with many companies, it’s not uncommon to witness managers pointing the finger at associates because they believe they are not able to hand off a key project or they are afraid a deadline will be missed if they don’t work on the project themselves.
What we spend our time on and how things get done is what our day is about. So, building out an environment that has an underlying belief system that empowers delegation — a structure to support delegation — is a significant competitive differentiator.
Bring me along
The main factors enabling delegation have to do with the clarity around roles (who does what), an ability to articulate what’s expected and for the associate to be able to ask questions without feeling insecure. These foundational concepts, combined with having the right character and competence, lay the groundwork for delegation.
A bring me along approach, one that allows the associate to lead a project with the manager verifying the work along the way to minimize surprises, is a sure way to build momentum in how you work together toward common goals.
Keep in mind, as a leader your job is to define the “what and why” of a project, let the associates recommend “how” it should be done by presenting to you their suggestions. You will be giving feedback to them until there’s a great solution to the “how.”
This approach frees up your time not having to attend the “how” meetings, shows that you’re trusting them and best of all, rallies a group of associates driving accountability and engagement.

As Simon the baker has proven in “A Slice of Trust,” being trusted invites people to be their best.

 
Pamela Springer is the founding partner of SpringerNav LLC and a 20-year entrepreneurial executive focused on developing profitable strategies that scale, drive revenue and build cohesive teams.