A senior leader I’ve respected for years talked about how he handles delegating. It’s important to Rich that he knows the person before he’ll delegate key tasks.
When Rich brings a new team member on board, he’ll schedule 1:1 time to get to know them. In the first meeting, he’ll give an example of something he wants to be able to delegate. He’ll tell them what’s important to him about it and why, what he looks for, what questions go through his mind. Rich wants them to know not just WHAT he thinks, but HOW he thinks and WHY. He’ll ask what, how and why questions to learn about them, too.
In their next 1:1s, he’ll ask for their perspective on something that’s happened (or is happening) to learn more about their points of view and thought processes. He wants thinkers on his team, not parrots. Through these conversations, he picks up additional clues that help him develop them to succeed in their roles.
Rich chuckled when asked about the amount of time he commits to this. He believes the time is well worth it in the long run. From years of experimenting with how he gets to know people and their capacity, he’s learned that this approach works best because it’s win-win. They develop trust in each other. And, when he delegates to them, he’s confident they will represent him and the company well.
A side benefit: Rich’s people love him for it. They learn to think deeper, broader, further, to ask questions with confidence and to take action they believe is the best approach.
Getting to know your people is the key to trusted delegating, isn’t it? What relationships might you work on to ensure better outcomes down the road?
If you’re thinking, I don’t have time for this…, I encourage you to think about the pros and cons of not doing it.
