Mastering the Art of Delegation

Ramblings on how to delegate properly to empower your team and achieve more.

Photo by wd toro 🇲🇨 on Unsplash

Delegation is much more than assigning tasks; it is about giving power and autonomy to decide how a job will be carried out. Without this freedom, without the ability to make decisions, delegation becomes a mere trap. And this power also involves the right to make mistakes. Learning occurs when responsibility for mistakes is taken¹, without fear of reprisals if the intent is genuine. As long as there is no bad faith or negligence, mistakes should lead to teaching and mentoring, not punishment. Leadership is not about reprimanding, but about guiding.

Learning occurs when responsibility for mistakes is taken, as Daniel Goleman points out in this book.

However, if a mistake persists, it’s worth asking whether we’ve delegated the task to the right person. Perhaps we have talent in the wrong role. It’s well known that people perform at their best when their skills align with their role. Do we have someone brilliant in an unsuitable position, or perhaps the person simply doesn’t fit within the team? This is a question we must ask ourselves: clarity of purpose lies at the core of good leadership (communication, once again!), and purpose is tied to the right role for each team member.

An illustrative example is Steve Ballmer's time at the helm of Microsoft. During Bill Gates' leadership, Ballmer drove the creation of a partner network that was key to the company's growth, resulting in the largest outsourced sales, distribution, and support network and exceptionally low sales costs. However, as Microsoft's CEO, Ballmer lacked vision and charisma—qualities essential for his role. While Apple launched the iPhone, Microsoft acquired Nokia in a questionable move, and the “stack ranking” system demolished team morale.

Buying Nokia in 2014 was not a smart move, but Ballmer was neither visionary nor charismatic as a CEO. He was in the wrong role.

Leadership is not only measured by the energy a leader injects into a team but by the vision and charisma that provide a strong direction and inspire everyone to move forward together². Ballmer had plenty of energy, but energy fades as quickly as it is transmitted. Charisma, which Gates possessed despite his shyness, endures in people over the years.

I can’t recomment this book enough.

Expectations

Delegation is not just about transferring tasks; it’s also about assigning expectations. Do we expect others to do the task exactly as we would? Perhaps the key question is whether we truly trust that it will be done well or if we merely want it done our way (whether that’s good or bad). If we delegate and give the power to decide how to execute a task, we must accept that it will be done differently, and perhaps even better, than our way. The fundamental point is to put the right people in the right roles and grant them the autonomy to innovate and excel³.

However, giving away power does not mean completely relinquishing responsibility. The leader remains ultimately responsible for the outcome, which involves supervising and maintaining control without slipping into micromanagement. We must lead with trust and humility, understanding that different approaches aren’t necessarily errors but alternative methods that can enrich the final result.

Humbleness

Granting the power to decide requires humility—a virtue that prevents us from imposing our own approach. The difference between a controlling leader and a transformational one lies in the ability to accept that others can contribute something unique and valuable⁴. A leader's humbleness is shown in her/his willingness to learn from their teams, understand their perspectives, and accept their methods as long as the results are valid.

So, what happens when the result doesn’t meet our expectations? If the outcome is objectively worse, we need to define how far we can tolerate that deviation and still consider it acceptable. If the result is not acceptable, we need to question whether the person is in the right role and whether we’ve chosen and mentored our team effectively.

By nature, delegation means trusting that others will reach a goal without constant oversight. True progress for a team requires the courage to trust and adapt to new approaches, even if that means errors along the way.

Communication

The most common mistake in delegation is a lack of clarity in instructions. In fact, the main mistake in team leadership is poor communication. In my opinion, communication is a fundamental skill for any leader, if not the most important. Saying “I used to do it all myself” is not a valid expectation nor a defined objective. It’s simply unacceptable for a leader. From the perspective of an entrepreneur or business owner, such statements destroy teams. The entrepreneur’s day may be 24 hours, but the employee’s day is 8 hours, and we cannot expect more. We can expect commitment if we know how to motivate and lead our teams, but we cannot demand unreasonable work conditions simply because we have chosen a particular path ourselves. Employees, too, have chosen theirs.

The responsibility of delegating includes communicating clear expectations. The leader must specify both the “what” and the “why” behind each task without falling into exhausting micromanagement. If it’s a team member lacking experience or knowledge, it’s up to the leader to facilitate that person’s development.

Culture and Values

Conveying the company culture and values is also essential. Delegating without sharing an overall vision is like sending a team to work blindfolded. However, delegating an expectation like “I want you to improve sales” without specific guidance will not lead to success. The desired outcome cannot be achieved without direction. The responsibility of the leader or manager is not abdicated through delegation. It remains the leader's job to define the framework, supervise, and ultimately assume the final result.

There is a Dilbert strip for every business situation.

Mastering the art of delegation is not easy, but the reward is worth it. Teams move faster and go further when delegation is intelligent, trusting in the abilities of each team member. Delegation not only frees time for the leader; it allows others to grow, add value, and contribute to collective success. It makes the project bigger, and it makes all of us greater.

Recommended reading

I cannot finish without recommending some great books on team management, leadership and communication (the basis of good leadership).

• “Leaders Eat Last”, by Simon Sinek, one of my favourite authors.

• “Start With Why”, by Simon Sinek.

• “Good to Great”, by Jim Collins. Oldie but goldie.

• “Radical Candor”, by Kim Scott. A very good book on radical honesty in communicating with your team, especially when dealing with difficult things.

• “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There”, by Marshall Goldsmith.

Please, share your thoughts in comments or in the chat.

Thanks for reading & sharing.

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1. Daniel Goleman, "Emotional Intelligence"

2. Simon Sinek, “Leaders Eat Last”

3. Jim Collins, “Good to Great”

4. Marshall Goldsmith, "What Got You Here Won't Get You There"