Leadership roles can be tricky to navigate. The higher you move up, the more delegating becomes very important. However, finding the right balance of which tasks to own, and which ones to delegate can be tricky. In addition, we often find ourselves in leadership roles after serving in other, less senior capacities. This means that you can do other jobs in the company, even if those jobs are no longer yours to do. Delegating can become difficult if there are tasks at which you’re very good, or tasks that you love to do.
Additionally, moving up brings with it new challenges. I’d be remiss to not acknowledge that sometimes it’s just plain easier to keep busying ourselves with our old tasks instead of facing the new challenges that have been put on our plate. Letting go of former tasks, finding the patience to let others learn how to do them, and acknowledging the new challenges that need our attention, can be difficult. However, without engaging in this process, you’ll be stifling your own growth, as well as the growth of your team.
One reason why someone in leadership needs to delegate is because leaders are expensive. As a person in leadership, your cost to the agency per hour is usually higher than most employees. The reason for this is because you have a specific expertise that others don’t, and you are compensated specifically for that expertise. Therefore, your time should be spent on tasks that require your expertise, not on other assignments that employees with lower rates can do. Simply put, when the CEO is changing lightbulbs, the company is wasting money.
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