Letting Go
Courtesy of Robert Glazer Friday Forward https://www.robertglazer.com/friday-forward/learning-delegation/ May 13, 2021
Recently, I spoke to a group of new managers at our company about the crucial lessons I’ve learned in my own leadership journey. At the top of the list was learning to delegate.
I still remember how, in the early years of the business, I was in charge of nearly every function and struggled to let go. It was exhausting.
I have seen this same theme crop up repeatedly at our company: virtually all our new managers struggle with delegation. Intuitively, this makes sense; before becoming a manger, an employee works as an individual contributor and is rewarded for being a reliable, trustworthy and productive member of a team.
For managers, however, success is much less about the work they do and more about the performance of their team. Great managers lead others to do great work, rather than doing everything themselves.
Making this shift requires a change in muscle memory, and I find that most new managers inevitably fall into one of two traps. They may fail to delegate, jumping in to solve problems for their team, completing every task themselves and suffocating their team with micromanagement. Or, by contrast, they may delegate without setting proper expectations or providing clear instructions, then expect things to turn out exactly as they would have done it themselves.
What’s even more problematic is that new managers often find themselves vacillating between these two pitfalls. If a manager delegates without clear guidelines, and receives unwanted outcomes as a result, they may snap back to the mode of doing things themselves. They’ll justify this by saying, “see, if I don’t do it, it won’t get done correctly.” This creates a vicious cycle that needs to be broken.
There are three rules of delegation every manager, especially every new manager, should follow to avoid these traps.
1. Follow The 85 Percent Rule. If you delegate tasks and expect them be done exactly how you want them, you will be disappointed. I have always emphasized that a win in delegation is when something is done about 85 percent the way you would have done it, without you having to be involved. It’s counterproductive to be frustrated at that remaining 15 percent, as everyone has their own style and way of doing things.
2. Proper Delegation Requires More Upfront Work. With delegation, things often get harder before they get easier. You need to put in the upfront work to train, clarify and set expectations for the outcomes you need your team to achieve. This often requires having employees shadow you and teaching them how to do something correctly. This can be challenging when you need others to take things off your plate, but if you try to skip this step, you won’t even get 85 percent of what you want—and you’ll be back to square one.
3. Allow Above The Waterline Mistakes. People are going to make mistakes as they learn; ideally, you want those to happen in practice sessions, or behind the scenes. In service industries in particular, it can be painful to let people make client-facing mistakes, as these may jeopardize client relationships. However, those errors are often the best teachers and can often lead to better future outcomes.
The best analogy is to think about the waterline on a ship. Damage above the waterline won’t sink the ship and is reparable. Damage below the waterline can sink the ship and bring everything down with it. Great managers minimize below the waterline mistakes and get comfortable with letting their teams make above the waterline mistakes. While the latter are uncomfortable for everyone, they are also a necessary part of learning, letting go and creating accountability.
One of the definitions of a great leader is someone who inspires and empowers others to do their best work, which requires knowing when to delegate and how to do it well. I can tell you from my own experience that while this it certainly isn’t easy, it is necessary.
Robert Glazer
Founder & CEO, Acceleration Partners
About Robert Glazer:
Bob Glazer is the founder and CEO of global partner marketing agency, Acceleration Partners.Under Robert’s leadership. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of BrandCycle. A serial entrepreneur, Bob has a passion for helping individuals and organizations build their capacity to elevate.
Acceleration Partners has become a recognized global leader in the affiliate and partner marketing industry, receiving numerous industry and company culture awards.
Bob was also named to Glassdoor’s list of Top CEO of Small and Medium Companies in the US, ranking #2.
Bob shares his ideas and insights via Friday Forward, a popular weekly inspirational newsletter that reaches over 100,000 individuals and business leaders across 50+ countries. He is the host of the Elevate Podcast, where Bob sits down with leaders, thinkers and authors to discuss personal growth and helping others live their best lives. Bob is also the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and international bestselling author of four books: Elevate, Friday Forward, Performance Partnerships and How To Make Virtual Teams Work.
A regular columnist for Forbes, Inc. and Entrepreneur, Bob’s writing reaches over five million people around the globe each year who resonate with his topics, which range from performance marketing and entrepreneurship to company culture, capacity building, hiring and leadership. Worldwide, he is also a sought-after speaker by companies and organizations, especially on subjects related to business growth, culture, mindful transitions, building capacity and performance. Bob’s website can be found at: https://www.robertglazer.com/