Q: How do I delegate better?

A: The answer to this question is not what you think. I know, I know… there are only about four gazillion books out there on delegating. Throw in all the stuff written about productivity, management, and accountability, and the number zooms up to about nine gazillion. Or 10, I lost count.

And if any of it worked, the world would be filled with master delegators from top to bottom.

[Cue moment of daydreamy bliss.]

Fact is, humans are, in a word, human. So before we can address the tactics of the issue, we need to look at how the human condition may impact our ability to execute it. And when it comes to delegation, the answer is both obvious and tough to swallow.

Here’s a 2 question quiz that I often use, though not in so many words, when coaching:

Describe your relationship with your subordinates.
Describe your relationship with your boss(es).

Often, I’ll get an answer to the first that paints the subordinates as hungry, probably capable, but deficient in some meaningful way. (Compare to your own answer.) As for bosses, I often hear that bosses are good people, but maybe too political. And maybe not aware enough of subordinates’ work effort, time commitments, capabilities, etc., to do the job effectively. My corollary to these questions is:

“Ignoring power, pay, benefits, etc., and just considering the work they do, whose job would you rather have: your subordinate’s, your own, or your boss’?”

Here’s the kicker: answers to the first two questions are irrelevant. Those Qs exist only to set up the third, which is the money question.

Did you answer it? Yes? How? Because the answer to the question, “How do I delegate better” is hidden in your answer:

I PREFER MY SUBORDINATE’S JOB—You’re attached to the “doing” part of the work and haven’t fully accepted your management responsibilities. Not that you’d ever admit so in public… and not that you’d even let yourself knowingly admit as much to yourself… but there it is. You’re not delegating because you don’t yet fully embrace delegating as part of your job. You’re still a worker at heart. Until you do so, attempts to delegate won’t stick.

I PREFER MY OWN JOB—You won’t delegate because doing so will create competition for your current job, and you like your current job too much to want to give it up. Look at it this way: no one below you gets promoted until you’re ready to move up yourself (in theory; ignore lateral moves for a moment). So if you’re not ready to move up… in other words, if your boss’ job is unappealing, then a part of you is going to resist developing your subordinates. Like Shakespeare, you’ll likely give your troupe only those parts of the play they need to have, and you’ll orchestrate the integration of the whole. You’ll have good reason to do so, but at the end of the day, that reason is really just a rationalization for your desire to stay in place. Attempts to improve your ability to delegate will probably fall short… in your eyes, your team will never quite be up to the challenge as much as you will be.

I PREFER MY BOSS’ JOB—Delegation books are for you. You are mentally and emotionally ready to learn the skills. If you’re not a good delegator, it is because you lack the skill; learning the tactics of delegation will likely help you.

Surprised? Most of us are usually a bit surprised to learn (remember?) how the human condition is affecting us. We tend to lose sight of its impact on our own behavior… as clearly as we might see it at work with others. Like I said before: obvious, and tough to swallow.

Q: How do I delegate better?

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