As a leader, how often has it happened that you “quickly” did a task on your own?
If so, think about the following behavior:
Are you micromanaging your team and believe that your way is the only one?
Are you depriving your team of tasks with responsibility from which they could learn and grow?
Are you sure you installed a thought out team or are some changes necessary to have the right people in the right place?
For me, there was definitely a learning curve over the years. While I did not find it difficult to delegate from the beginning, I struggled to let go of big portions of my workload to free myself up for more strategic work. It sometimes felt like dumping too much on my team and then I preferred to juggle the load myself.
Or those moments where I hesitated to delegate, reflecting whether the delegation itself would be of higher cost than me doing the work right away.
I have also been in situations where I lacked the confidence that my team member would deliver on the job according to my expectations. While I still believe in high quality standards, I have come to the awareness that other and sometimes even lower work outcomes will do as well. It may happen that the result is just different from mine. Sometimes it is indeed poorer, but the team member made progress for himself and we are all fine.
It is okay to feel strange or uncomfortable in such situations. When we are new in the leadership role or with a new team, there needs to be a period of alignment, of learning, and of figuring it out.
Be patient with yourself and also with your team. If you are open-minded and willing to learn, you will grow and develop in delegating in all kinds of teams and tasks.
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