Why do we find it hard to delegate?

Napoleon Bonaparte is a divisive figure, even two hundred years after his death. Did he hijack the French Revolution for his own ends, or was he serving a higher purpose? Was he a war hero, or war criminal? I’ll leave historians to ponder those questions and turn to one aspect of his style of leadership.

He is attributed with one saying which I suspect all of us have subscribed to, at some point, namely:

If you want something done well, do it yourself

It’s a view held particularly by the diligent and hard-working, people who have high standards and cannot understand why others don’t match them. As a middle-aged man, I certainly take this stance when it comes to loading the car boot. Or so my wife says.

However, when it comes to leadership at work, this mind set is a common problem, especially for those being promoted to a leadership position or joining a company’s Board for the first time. They mistake doing for leading.

Leading not doing

Coachees I have worked with often raise the issue of delegation. Whilst for some it’s about how to delegate, involving communication or people management concerns. However, for newer team leaders its more often about themselves: what their new role actually means, how they should now measure ‘success’; and fundamentally about how they find satisfaction.

Those who have worked hard to gain that promotion, find it difficult to change their ways, not least because of the satisfaction they get from knowing they have earned their success.

Their promotion now means they need to change both what they do each day and how they measure progress. No longer is it possible to power through problems by their own hard work and long hours. Now they have to manage others to deliver success. It leaves some people struggling.

One coachee who had recently been promoted to lead his organisation, was a real grafter. Someone who earned their promotion but had quickly realised that he wasn’t finding his new status satisfying. He felt some team members weren’t delivering and admitted being unclear how to use his time.

New perspectives

I decided to apply the principles of Gestalt coaching. Gestalt emerged in the early 20th century from the field of psychology and I find it helps when coachees need to consider what they consider the reality of their situation from a different perspective, sometimes the perspective of those around them. When people’s roles change it can be helpful for them to ‘step back’ and become aware of the whole situation.

I asked the coachee to put himself in the place of one of his team members, one with whom he was struggling most. I asked him to use a different chair in the room. After a few false starts I was able to talk to the coachee as that team member, asking him about her work and about the coachee as team leader.

I find the silences in these conversations are sometimes the most productive moments. Its when the coachee is thinking what the other person would say about them and about their work. One phrase by the coachee, as that team member - I can’t do this if he’s breathing down my neck - proved particularly insightful. It helped lead to a realisation about the coachee’s new role which then helped him construct a sense of his new purpose, where his time should be focused and how to measure progress.

Gestalt techniques can work in a number of circumstances but they rely on the willingness of the coachee to ‘role play’. Some people engage with this, others do not, though that can in itself be helpful in bringing out the whole question of what we all think of as ‘reality’ and a recognition that there is no single perception of reality which is complete.

People & Priorities

I am pleased to say that the coachee has grown into his new role, enabling his team to grow as individuals and to exceed their targets. His sense of self-worth has improved, but is now based on different measures than before.

As a delegator he sets clear, measurable goals for his team members, usually in conjunction with them. He is less inclined to micro manage how projects are tackled, rather he has realised that his role is about people – get the right people and motivate them – and priorities – clear goals based on the overall direction of the organisation.

In this sense he, and many other successful leaders, prove that actually Napoleon was wrong.

If delegating is an issue for you then go to ‘How I Coach’ to see how I could help you.