Delegation; The World’s Most Powerful Form Of Empowerment

It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO planning your own succession or the most junior Executive who has to handle the freshest intern, delegating is a skill that requires constant learning. Whether it be the CEO delegating tasks to a promising successor to the Executive delegating out the most menial tasks, each deliver the same benefit; Empowerment.

Delegating might be seen as a way for Seniors to just drown the Junior in responsibilities that ‘should’ be managed by the Senior but it can be a way to elevate one’s position and skill set in a manageable and guided way.

Here are my mains ways to make sure Delegation equals Empowerment.

1. Have A Progession Plan
A progression plan is a set of incremental steps to guide one’s growth in a realistic and manageable way to set the person up for success. Delegating is a key part of this where, bit-by-bit, the Senior will start to offload tasks and responsibilities to the Junior in a way that makes sense and builds upon each other.

2. Provide Top Cover
Delegating means to give some bandwidth for mistakes and errors which requires top cover to protect the individual. This protection is important to emotionally and mentally protect the individual so their career isn’t scared by mistakes and creates reserved and unconfident leaders. Sufficient top cover will create confident and careful leaders who are able to take on new challenges in a responsible way.

3. Delegation Proves Ability
Although the Junior might be hungry, confident, and committed, delegation will show if they are ready. Although mistakes are inevitable, delegation will show competency to take over and to assume key responsibilities. If the Junior isn’t able to take over these tasks right now, then it gives a clear perspective on the growth needed from the Junior and a revised Progression Plan from the Senior.