Key Reasons Delegating Is SO Difficult and What To Do About It

As men and women alike climb the ladder of success, they too often suffer from the inability to delegate well.

Isn’t one of the payoffs expected from achieving leadership status the freedom to no longer have to do the "daily grind" work, the "menial" work, the "frustrating calendaring and tedious phone call" work?

Of course the answer is "yes!" Yet most people have such a difficult time weaning themselves from doing those tasks themselves. How about you? Is it because:

--- You’re good at it. You don’t even have to think about how to do it. You’ve been doing it for years. And now you have to train someone to do it the way you want. Grrrrrr.

--- You’re going to have to learn to be dependent on whomever you are delegating to, something you may have avoided your entire life until now. Dependency? Yuck!

--- It’s easier to do than the strategic planning or core curriculum development, or whatever else your new position requires that seems difficult to dig into and get going on the new learning curve. Anxious just thinking about it?

There are any number of other reasons why delegating is so challenging. It’s not so simple when you’re identity is caught up in it. And it is.

SO, what to do?

--- First, recognize that your reputation and future career depend on your ability to delegate and do it well.

--- Second, understand that if you can’t surrender the work that should no longer be on your plate, you’ll be seen as a control-freak and micro-manager by those who work for you, whether or not you ever hear a word about it.

--- Third, you can never achieve the level of managerial and/or professional competence you aspire to without developing a clearer re-definition of your identity—as someone who can easily and wisely delegate to those who can and should provide the support work that your position requires.

What’s necessary?

--- You have to grow beyond your current identity.

--- You have to develop inspirational leadership skills that will allow you to train and trust those you delegate to.

--- You’ll have to replace or fire those who cannot provide the type of help you require.

When you’re clear about the power of appropriate delegation, then you can grow that new identity as you build and develop an effective team behind you that you can trust to take over when circumstances demand.

So, as you read this last part, who do you have to become in order to step into an identity of someone who is really good at delegating?