"Delegation is a gracious gift of involvement"
Column 8 on Max De Pree's Leadership Jazz
March
Delegation is a gracious gift of involvement.
Reflect back over your life. What is your first conscious memory of being trusted to accomplish specific results? What was your first leadership responsibility? When did you first accept the role of supervisor, manager or leader? What do you remember? What made these times different from the things you had done before?
Most of us can identify a memorable time when we were given responsibility for a particular outcome. It may not be the first, but we remember it usually because we succeeded or because we failed. Sometimes the responsibility required us to influence others’ behaviors – leadership. Sometimes it was an assignment expecting us to accomplish something on our own. What comes to mind for you? What was happening at that moment?
Delegation: the gracious gift of involvement. In Leadership Jazz, Max De Pree places delegation at the heart of leadership. Leadership is a relationship of influence in which we seek to influence the vision, values, attitudes or behaviors of another. Delegation is the expression of that relationship as involvement, participation and ownership. Delegation translates the relationship of influence into shared responsibility. Delegation is about responsibility, accountability and choice. Work is delegated; leadership is delegated. Delegation is empowering; it places leadership in the hands of the follower. Effective delegation creates leaders out of followers and followers out of leaders.
Delegation is about responsibility, accountability and choice.
It does not take much imagination to recognize the limits of our abilities. Regardless of the range of our gifts and experience we can only do so much. To move beyond the personal limits of leadership we delegate. We share the responsibility given to us, inviting others to participate, to share liability for the goals that together we seek to achieve. Delegation is not the abdication of responsibility. Rather, it is the extension of responsibility to allow others to participate and own outcomes. Leaders who delegate are still responsible both for the results delegated and the success or failure of the follower who accepts the delegation. Thus accountability and choice are important to delegation. Accountability is the communication between leader and follower that focuses on the particular responsibility that each has in attaining the goal. When delegation is given and accepted, both parties acknowledge their responsibilities and agree to be held accountable for their contributions. And that is where choice comes in. Leaders choose to delegate to extend their effectiveness. They choose to whom they will delegate, whom they trust enough to risk their leadership. And followers choose to accept the delegation. Delegation, like leadership, ultimately rests in the hands of the follower. Until the follower chooses to accept that delegation and the accountability that accompanies it, the delegation has not happened. Delegation, like leadership, is a relationship. Leaders lead and leaders delegate only when followers accept it.
Work is delegated and leadership is delegated.
The first part of this statement is obvious; the second part often forgotten. Delegation divides the goals of the organization into discrete work responsibilities to be accepted by those who choose to follow. Delegation is the heartbeat of organization. It gives hands and feet to vision. It is how together we can accomplish more than any one of us could achieve alone. Work is designed and delegated, accepted, owned and accomplished together. Leadership, as Peter Drucker often reminded us, is also work. Leadership is delegated responsibility to articulate vision, reinforce values, to empower followers and, as Max De Pree writes, to say thank you. Leadership is responsible for results and relationships, for delegation and empowerment. Leadership is delegated to the leader by the organization and by the followers. We accept the responsibility to lead from the organization. It is an appointment given to us, an opportunity into which we must grow and in which we continue to develop. In a vital way also, leadership is delegated by the followers. Again we are back to choice. Unless a follower chooses to follow we have not lead. When followers follow they effectively delegate leadership to the leader. Following is an act of delegation. Followers hold leaders accountable for the work of delegation. They expect clear instructions about goals, visions, authority and accountability. They expect confidence and encouragement. They expect trust in their ability. And they expect lavish communication: accountability, feedback and recognition. Delegation is a reciprocal relationship of leadership.
Delegation is empowering.
For a while “empowerment” was an important buzzword in the literature of leadership. It lost some of its luster as employees found themselves more manipulated than empowered. But I like the concept behind this word. Delegation is the leadership act of moving power from leader to follower. Power is the potential to influence the people and context around us. Delegation entrusts the follower with specific responsibilities, clearly articulated authority and the occasion to take the lead within well-defined parameters. It offers opportunity to influence relationships and results. It shares the power of leadership. In fact, I believe, the single most empowering act a leader can perform is to follow. When we delegate – when we risk our leadership by sharing our responsibility – we place power in the hands of the follower. When delegation is most effective, followers lead in their areas of responsibility and leaders follow. Delegation disseminates leadership. It develops people and enlarges vision. Delegation grows leaders.
Questions for reflection:
For what are you accountable? |
In whom have you placed your trust? |
To whom have you delegated leadership? Whom do you follow? |
How do you communicate confidence? |
What empowers you? |
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