I’ve talked a number of times about how your personal responsibilities change as your leadership scope expands. You move from being responsible for completing tasks to making decisions to forming strategies to casting a vision.
There’s a corollary to that personal growth that shows up in how you lead those who report to you. Because while your leadership scope is changing, so is theirs.
As you make decisions, they own tasks. As you set strategies, they own decisions. As you cast vision, they start to own strategies.
There are two ways you can get tripped up in the evolution of your delegation.
1️⃣ Don’t fail to prepare them for their own expanded scope of responsibility. Be transparent about how you make decisions and set strategies. Let them learn from your failures and successes. Give them opportunities to influence your work before it becomes theirs.
2️⃣ Don’t fail to actually delegate at a higher level. Release your attachment to the scope of leadership that you have grown out of. When you’re setting strategy, give them the space to make their own decisions and face the consequences. When you’re casting a vision, let them set the strategies that they believe will drive toward that vision.
As you grow in your leadership role, so do they. Help them succeed in their growth.
If you’d like a thinking partner to explore your evolving delegation skills, let’s talk. Visit stevedwire.com/talk to start the conversation.
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