š” Are You Delegatingā¦ or Just Micromanaging? (Issue 646)
This might be why your employees aren't stepping up
āYouāre not doing it right!ā
āWhy did you do that?ā
āWhy are you doing it that way?ā
āYouāre making a mess!ā
Have you ever heard those words after someone asked you to do something? Sadly, I think many of us did when we were children.
A parent would ask us to handle a household chore, but then criticize how we did it.
A teacher would watch us working on something and tell us we were doing it all wrong.
A coach would observe our performance and be quick to tell us how badly we were screwing up.
If you've never experienced that, Iām happy for you! However, many of us did, and it harmed our self-esteem, confidence, and self-efficacy.
Unfortunately, these patterns of behavior from authority figures often crop up again in our professional lives later. We run into bosses, managers, and leaders who were never trained to coach employees in healthy or productive ways.
Do you manage employees in your job? If so, this message is for you. If not, this message is for your boss. But Iām not sure how to deliver it to them. Maybe you could anonymously email them this article? Be carefulā¦
Dear managers, get better at delegating!
If you delegate a task but criticize every move of the person performing the work, donāt be surprised if they never want to help you with any future tasks. Even if they have no choice but to accept your delegation, you have disempowered them.
They arenāt really learning anything if you dictate every step.
They will fear showing initiative in the future.
They wonāt feel confident enough to act independently.
They will think they have to check in with you before every decision.
They wonāt make a move without your explicit guidance.
Then guess what? Youāre going to complain later that your employees never show initiative and step up. They canāt win. Theyāre damned if they do and damned if they donāt.
Good leaders coach, guide, and mentor their employees. They donāt dictate how the work gets done. They provide a safe environment where employees can try new things and occasionally fail (without harsh repercussions), thus allowing them to learn, grow, and improve in their jobs.
You want independent, effective, and productive workers, donāt you? Thatās how your organization scales and accomplishes more as your team grows and evolves.
So, the next time you delegate a task and catch yourself itching to criticize how the work is being performed, take a step back and ask yourself:
Is the work getting done? ā
Is the outcome okay? ā
Will the employee learn from the experience and improve? ā
If the answers are yes, great! Now make peace with the fact that other people will work differently from you, and thatās just fine.
Later, you can coach them in ways they can continually improve, rather than destroying their morale in the moment. This is Parenting 101 and Partnering 101. You would think it would be Leadership 101, too, but many leaders fail at this.
You can be a better leader than most. Your team deserves that.
ā”ļø Would you like to talk more about your leadership goals? You can schedule a complimentary call.
Iām Larry Cornett, an executive coach who works with ambitious professionals to help them reclaim their power, become more invincible, and create better opportunities for their work and lives. Do more of what you love and less of what you hate! š Check out The Invincible Daily Journals!
