The Art of Delegation

Ziggy 9 July 2005

The original quote: "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today!"

The original quote focuses on avoiding procrastination and doing what you can do now. Although this quote still focuses on avoiding procrastination, the difference is in getting someone else to do it for you. Is this an art of delegation?

In any organisation, managers or leaders often need to learn the art of delegation. Delegation does not mean that you dump all your work to your subordinates and you do nothing at all. Delegation means entrusting your subordinates to do some of your work so that you can do what you do best, thus achieving the organisation's goals and outcomes.

Some managers are often afraid to delegate their works because they feel insecure and they fear that their subordinates may be able to perform the task better than them. These insecure managers tend to insist to do everything themselves or just give menial tasks to their subordinates. At the end, the whole team suffers. Even worse, these insecure managers often complain that they are overwhelmed by their works, while the subordinates complain that they are not given a room to grow.

What would you do if you have an insecure manager in your organisation? I'd love to hear your comments on this one.

Learn and Grow!