4 Lies Managers Tell Themselves About Why They Don't Delegate

I've spent the majority of my career helping to develop leaders. From managers to executives, there is one universal hurdle that needs to be overcome to achieve the success that is desired. The inability to delegate. The moment you get promoted into a managerial role, the fundamental nature of your work changes. You are instantly required to accomplish more than is possible alone. It requires you to work with and through others to meet your goals. It's also very easy to see which leaders are struggling with this lack of delegation. They are the ones that are extremely busy all the time. Busy is not a sign of accomplishment. It is not a badge of honor to wear. Busy is a symptom that something isn't working.

These leaders always appear exhausted by the amount of work that needs to be done. They come in early, stay late, and take work home with them. When asked about delegation, there are always great and detailed stories about why delegation doesn't happen. Unfortunately, these stories are most often not true. In fact, there seems to be 4 lies that managers tell themselves, and others, about why they don't delegate.

1. It's just quicker if I do it myself - This first one is a half lie. It may, in fact, be quicker to do something yourself. The trouble is, when you do it yourself, you are doing nothing to develop the members of your team. Even if it takes slightly longer for someone else to accomplish the task, the next time that type of task comes around, you'll have someone who can accomplish it quickly.
2. Other people are busy, so I'm just adding to their plate - The thing to remember about delegation is that it is not simply "dumping" work that you would prefer to not do. When you delegate, you need to give careful consideration to the type of work that someone else can do that will help you accomplish an objective, and at the same time increase the capability of the person being delegated to. If this is the case, and your employees can see this, no one will complain about the extra or substitute work. We all want assignments that allow us to grow.
3. I need it to be done right - I here this one most often from managers who were stellar individual contributors who have been promoted to a managerial role. Because they were recently the expert at certain tasks or job assignments, there can be the tendency to think that you are the only one who can do it the "right way". Please consider that the person you've delegated to may not do things the exact way you would have done it, but more times than not, you are going to end up with the same result. If you've done a good job hiring the right person for the role, given regular and consistent feedback, and have worked to develop the person, they will prove that they are up to any task you assign them.
4. Delegating will cause me to lose control of my tasks - Delegation does not mean transferring accountability for the end result. You still own the completion of your projects. When you delegate, you can retain the control you need by simply spending time on the front end helping your employee set a goal for the completion of the task, including a deadline, checking in and providing feedback along the way, and following up at the end of the task to help document any learning from the experience that will help with future delegation.

Delegation can and should be one of the most important tools used to develop your employees. It helps them hone skills to be used in their current role, as well as starting to prepare them for future roles and assignments. Don't take that development away from them by doing all the work yourself. You don't have time for that. Remember? You are busy.