Hands On vs. Delegation: The Leadership Style Your Team Will Respect

In this series, professionals explain how to lead in times of turmoil or growth. Read the posts, then write your own (use #HowILead in the body of your post).

Many moons ago I heard the term “management by abdication.”  It basically means that you detach yourself from responsibility. 

That is NOT #HowILead.

That doesn’t really sound like an effective management style to me.  There probably aren't many who would argue with that.  But there’s a fine line between abdication, and allowing others autonomy.  Right? Right.

Now…

What about “leadership by abdication” and it’s cousin “absentee landlord?”

Is it possible to be a good leader without constantly leading?

I believe that you can. 

What does a leader really even do?

It really comes down to empowerment.

Giving the folks who work for you the authority to control their destiny, to make decisions on their own, to create on their own, and to lead in their own way.

A good leader gives his team authority to control their destiny. [ Click to tweet]

To understand my point…I think we first need to have a conversation about what the CEO’s job is.  Because it’s all I know, I’m talking about the CEO of a small to medium sized business. 

Sorry Tim Cook, this isn’t about you.

At the highest level, of course the CEO must be responsible for charting the vision.  Ryan Levesque (and others) have been known to say that the job of the CEO is to do two things.

1. Delegate
2. Predict

I believe that’s an over simplification for most businesses.  Especially smaller companies, where the CEO is often pitching in on many more functional activities.  At a minimum, designing the systems that management will be responsible for executing.

In my business, I view my responsibility as one of designing the processes and systems that I can then set free, to be managed by my team.

Once these systems are in the hands of the team, and effectively running, I stay fairly hands off. 

Fact is, in a small business the CEO will often have many more responsibilities than planning (predicting) and making decisions (delegating).

What sets a leader apart?

It is the execution of these responsibilities that truly embody the leader.  How you are “showing up” as a leader isn’t just about support, encouragement, and cheerleading. 

It is equally important to lead by setting an example of what is possible.  Getting your hands dirty from time to time and doing exceptional work. 

Set the standard to which the rest of your team can aspire. [ Click to tweet]

Even to this day, Mark Zuckerberg is known to get his hands dirty, jumping in to knock out some code.  It’s as much about respect from his team as anything else, I assume.  

In my experience, I’ve found that it’s much better to be a part of the team, than to put yourself on a pedestal.  And one way to do that is to roll up your sleeves and go to battle from time to time. 

It's better to be a part of the team, than to put yourself on a pedestal. [ Click to tweet]

Come in on the weekend to work on a special project with one of your managers.  Maybe it’s helping organize some details for a new project. 

Regardless of the specific “work” what it really comes down to is this:  Do work.

Do the hard work of designing the systems that will accelerate your business’ growth and performance.

That’s #HowILead....By doing bad ass work.  Then getting out of the way to let my team do their work, and respecting them with autonomy.

And yeah, from time to time, a little cheerleading too.

What is the most important aspect of your leadership style? Or what did you respect most in your favorite boss? Tell us in the comments!

Hands On vs. Delegation: The Leadership Style Your Team Will Respect [Click to tweet]

Josh Turner is the founder of LinkedSelling and Linked University. He is also the author of Connect, the secret LinkedIn playbook to generate leads, build relationships, and dramatically increase your sales, a Wall Street Journal Best Seller.