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Servant Leader delegate and is committed to the growth of people.

Guest post by: David Wee

Article Overview: Learn how to separate the majors and the minors. A lot of people don't do well simply because they major in minor things. The ability to be clear on delegation is a sign of good management. Managers delegate work not to just relieve their workload, but to allow the employees they supervise to grow professionally.

Servant Leader delegate and is committed to the growth of people.

Effective delegation is a two-way discussion and understanding. Be clear about the delegated task, give employee(s) an opportunity to ask questions, monitor progress and offer assistance as needed. The servant leader has a deep sense of empathy and acceptance of each person. Use effective delegation to benefit both yourself and the person to whom you delegate.

Why you should Delegate?

You free yourself to run your business and see the big picture.

1. You develop your employees and make them more valuable.
2. You spread accountability to encourage a stronger, more resilient team.
3. You can respond faster to changes in your business when you can rely on nimble employees to take charge.

Good delegation saves you time, develops your people, grooms a successor, and motivates. Poor delegation will cause you frustration, demotivates, confuses the other person, and fails to achieve the task or purpose itself.

Delegation is perhaps the single most difficult skill for new managers to develop. Proper delegation offers the manager the opportunity to grow and develop individuals who can then be recognized as future leaders of the organization.

Delegating is nothing but "Internal Outsourcing". The main purpose of delegating is "Time Management" . . . so that you can concentrate on big . . . main assignments, assignments which need your attention. But what can you delegate, is an important question. The opinion that "One shall not delegate what they themselves cannot do". . . means you can delegate only those things . . . assignments which you . . . yourself are comfortable in doing.

A simple delegation rule is the acronym SMART. It's a quick checklist for proper delegation. Delegated tasks must be:

Specific

Measurable

Agreed

Realistic

Time bound

What to Delegate?

Study what kind of job you intend to delegate. Plan how you are going to present the assignment, including your requirements, parameters, authority level, checkpoints, and expectations. Servant leader use persuasion, rather than rely on their positional authority, in getting things done.

Don't delegate what you are not able to do. Don't delegate what you can eliminate. If you shouldn't be doing an activity, then perhaps you shouldn't be giving the activity away to others. Eliminate it.

Delegate routine activities, even though you don't want to:

1. Fact-finding assignments
2. Preparation of rough drafts of reports
3. Answering routine questions, problem analysis and suggested actions
4. Collection of data for reports, filing, counting, sorting, routine reports.
5. Making minor decisions

Delegate things that aren't part of your core competency. For small businesses, these include accounting, web site design, deliveries, hardware upkeep, software help, graphic design, travel arrangements, patenting, legal issues and even HR functions such as payroll.

Some things you can't delegate:

1. Performance reviews, discipline, and firing.
2. An emergency or short-term task where there's no time to explain or train
3. Morale problems
4. A presentation to investors about your company's financial performance and future plans
5. A job no one else in the company is qualified to do

Things to keep in mind . . . while delegating

Andrew Carnegie once said, "The secret of success is not in doing your own work but in recognizing the right man to do it."

Delegate the objective, not the procedure. Make sure the standards and the outcome are clear. What needs to be done, when should it be finished and to what degree of quality or detail? Outline the desired results, not the methodology. Ask people to provide progress reports. Set interim deadlines to see how things are going.

Delegate to the right person. Don't always give tasks to the strongest, most experienced or first available person. Spread delegation around and give people new experiences as part of their training.

Obtain feedback from employees to ensure they feel they're being treated appropriately. A simple "How's it going with that new project?" might be all that's needed. True listening builds strength in other people.

Be sure to delegate the authority along with the responsibility. Don't make people come back to you for too many minor approvals. Trust people to do well and don't look over their shoulders or check up with them along the way, unless they ask. Be prepared to trade short term errors for long term results. When you finish giving instructions, the last thing to ask is, "How can I help you to do your job better?" They'll tell you. Give praise and feedback at the end of the project, and additional responsibilities.

The biggest barrier to delegating is overcoming the entrepreneur's curse: insisting on doing it all. That's a fatal error that prevents start-ups from growing into viable companies.

Here's how to tell if you're digging yourself into a hole. When a friend asks, "How was work today?" Do you talk about how much work you did? Or do you focus on the work that you coached others to do?

The servant leader has a deep sense of awareness of himself and the environment around him.

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Article Tags: asb, asia speakers bureau, david wee, dw associates, leader, servant, singapore, the new normal, tnn
Referred by: http://www.ideamart.com.sg



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Re: From Greetings to Coaching - Hi Beat, Thanks for your kind welcome. I enjoy conversations going in all sorts of directions! I certainly look forward to hearing more about your life and your entrepreneurial plans. It's exciting to hear how the forum has been helpful and how your self worth is growing. I'm committed to personal growth myself and I like to think of life as a journey where we continue to grow and develop. We have so much potential to create amazing lives for ourselves if we choose to do so. I hear what you are saying about so many people who don't have dreams or goals to improve themselves. What I've learned is that we all have dreams, but sadly so many have given up on them. Over time, they become buried to the point the person becomes unaware of them any longer. This is where being an entrepreneur gets exciting. When we choose to follow our dreams, we have the opportunity to create businesses which fit with what we really desire. That's what I am committed to doing for myself and what I invite everyone I know to consider. Thanks again for the welcome, Tami
What holds people back? - I'm reading an interesting book that focuses on helping already up and running business owners take their companies to the next level. One of the ideas behind the book is that the people you hire is who hold you back. You can only do so much yourself so you have to delegate. Most people are fine doing this - but they hire people at entry level positions. The challenge comes when those entry level employees can't help you grow to the next level - you need to hire people who are more senior and can take on full projects instead of simple tasks. It's something I have been thinking about for my business as well - how to delegate out entire projects instead of tasks. I would love to hear your thoughts / experiences on this!
Growing ... or not - I've seen this done successful and I've seen disastrous results. From the expansions I've seen, a lot depends on the business owner and/or manager. Some people can run a business if it stays on an even keel, but many are simply not qualified to handle a business "explosion". Its wonderful to have the opportunity to grow your business in a hurry, but if the people or person in charge can't handle the growth, it can be really ugly and can cause huge problems within the business. Having the right people in place to deal with the growth is a key to making it work for you and not against you. Shri
Re: THE Most Important Concern At Startup - Follow-through. A lot of people have great business ideas, but not enough people follow through. You need to be committed and just go for it.
Re: My 200 post - Well GT, You done it again, The Leader and now you have 1003 post, wow. Michelle and Trent, you are a winners too. WTG friends, you are an inspiration.


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