Stinky Reasons for Avoiding Delegation

The Agile Manager's Guide

Nearly all topnotch managers are good delegators. If you're not, scan
this list
of reasons people don't delegate. Compare the reasons with your own behavior.
Once you know why you have trouble delegating, you can work to overcome
this
common managerial disease—and leap ahead.

LONE RANGER SYNDROME

(Or, " I'm the only one who can do it right. ") Some bosses
seem to relish the role of managerial martyr or supervisory Sisyphus
(rolling
that heavy burden of decisions up the hill every day, only to have it
roll back
down again). Yet, at the risk of sounding negative, there are hundreds
of
downsized managers who deluded themselves into believing that they were
the only
ones who could do their former jobs correctly. Nobody but nobody is
indispensable.

I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENS

You're right, you are. Sure, it's scary.
Richard Nixon once said, " I have an absolute rule. I refuse to
make a decision
that somebody else can make. The first rule of leadership is to save
yourself
for the big decision. Don't allow your mind to become cluttered with
the
trivia. " When the Watergate slammed shut on his fingers, however,
he became a
victim of this immutable management truth.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but agile managers have come to terms
with
this reality. Through delegation, they've prepared employees for handling
certain tasks and decisions, making themselves less worried about their
performance.

I DON'T HAVE TIME TO TEACH SOMEONE ELSE

Oh, really? If you don't, who will?
The higher that pile in your in-basket climbs, and the longer your list
of
e-mail, the worse your job becomes and the more panicked and overwhelmed
you
feel. There's virtually never an ideal time to teach an employee how
to do a
newly delegated task. The best time to begin grooming employees for delegated
work is right now.

MY PEOPLE ARE OVERLOADED ALREADY

Well, who isn't? If you can find anybody in
your organization who doesn't complain about being too busy, they're
probably
prime candidates for downsizing. Although you should be sensitive to
your
employees' work loads, morale, and protests, you should also realize
that most
workers feel " too busy " today. Besides, it's not hard to
delegate
compassionately, sympathetically, and tactfully.

I HATE TO LOSE THE CREDIT

If you're in a team-oriented organization, it's
likely that you're sharing credit for your group's success already. Teamwork
isn't compatible with credit thieves and Lone Ranger managers. Even if
your
company hasn't adopted teamwork, however, appreciate the wisdom and long-term
benefits of sharing credit with your people. The better they look, the
better
you look. After all, you're responsible, right?

________________________________

Feel free to forward this to a colleague. Adapted from The Agile Manager's
Guide to Delegating Work, by Joseph T. Straub. For details about this
book or any of
the other Agile Manager books visit:
http://www.agilemanager.com/books.html

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