What regarding delegating is not working out for you? How come people are not following where you are leading them? I find there is something important which often leads up to the final act of successful delegation.
Some people are too big for some jobs and always passing things on to others. Others hold on to work and refuse to let someone else do it, for fear it won’t get done right.
I believe there is a balance. It’s hard to lead and inspire people to do things well or properly if you don’t even know anything about what they are doing or what is needed. Maybe you’re a business owner. Maybe you’re a parent. Perhaps you’re leading a team at work. You might even be a coach.
In in several cases, with my employees, I’ve hoped I could just delegate, and they would figure things out, but I didn’t even know, what I was asking them to do looked like, or what was involved. Sure enough it didn’t go well. Then I had a look at it myself. I did a bit of research, learned how to do it, passed what I learned on to them, and then they were able to run with it.
As a business owner, you may not need to know the technical details of every job everyone in the business does. However, there are some pretty important areas which a business owner should somewhat skilled in. Robert Kiyosaki suggests there are five areas which can be delegated to other team members as you develop a business, but they do require the entrepreneur’s initial proficiency. In his book Before You Quit Your Job, he listed them as:
- Product
- Legal
- Systems
- Communications
- Cash Flow
As a parent I personally find it is difficult to teach my children anything or pass anything on to them, if I have not learned or experienced it in some way in my life. With teenagers this is even trickier. They would definitely not listen if they caught on that I didn’t know what I was talking about. Of course I’m thankful for the role teachers, relatives, and friends play in developing their characters. (I guess that’s delegation.)
In coaching, it is possible for a coach to help people in all walks of life, regardless of their experience, using some reliable tools of the trade. Yet, even in the coaching context limitations to the coach’s ability to work with a client can come up, if the coach does not even understand or have any awareness of some of the basic information or vocabulary related to the clients context or topic. i.e. Coaching in a corporate setting.
My point is simply this, in order to lead in any capacity you will have to have some experience related to what you are trying to lead others to do. Don’t be afraid to gain the experience, understand the context, then pass that understanding on, for others to build on and take your team to new heights. As you work towards your success with leading people or delegating, consider these points.
- Good leaders are like mountain guides, they show the way. They’ve been there, and they know what it takes to make it.
- Having some experience in what you are passing on or delegating to others can be instrumental in them understanding what is expected of them, and increases their chance of accomplishing it well.
- You can’t be afraid to get your nose dirty. Research, try, test, learn, and understand the key components of what you need someone to do.
- Having experience in an area makes it possible to relate to, and build rapport with, those you are working with or leading.
