Whether you work with others, or alone, you may still suffer from the “Single Warrior Syndrome”—that managerial malaise that causes leaders to work excessively long, hard hours because only THEY know how to do something right and fast enough. 

Whoa, Thunder! You better stop and think about this. If you want to go fast, go it alone. If you want to go higher and farther, do it with others. That means delegation. It’s easy to do something yourself but it takes true leadership to influence others to do it so you can focus on your genius and highest-value activities. 

The good news is, there is a cure for delegation reluctance. It starts with just being totally honest with yourself and then committing to developing those skills. Effective delegation is a mindset and learnable time management skill that will dramatically impact your business growth.

Find out how well you currently delegate by taking the following True/False Self-Quiz. 

  1. In most cases, I can do tasks quicker and better myself than if I delegate.
  2. Before I delegate something, I take the time to visualize the end result and to communicate that to the delegatee.
  3. I work longer hours than others doing the same kind of work.
  4. A written outline or sketch of what I want always accompanies my oral description of the tasks I delegate.
  5. If I get back work that is not what I had in mind, I discuss it with the person to sort out where the misunderstanding occurred and how it could be different in the future.
  6. I ask that work be redone as many times as it takes to make it perfect.
  7. I include the date and time the work is due on my requests. I encourage those who cannot commit to the timeline to renegotiate. I reassign the task, if necessary.
  8. Even though I work constantly, efficiently and effectively, I miss too many deadlines. There is simply too much for me to do.
  9. I keep a log of work given out and its due date, with copies of instructions attached.  
  10. I check work in progress rather than wait until the due date so as to catch potential problems early.
  11. I concern myself with results, not methods, allowing delegatees the leeway to use their own strategies to accomplish the task. Doing so encourages greater creativity, productivity and self-respect.
  12. I find myself not getting enough of the “important stuff” done, spending more time on details than on planning or supervising.
  13. When delegating, I always indicate what resources are available and what support I can give.
  14. I always thank people for their efforts, even if it needs revision. Likewise, I give credit, as needed, to those who did the work.
  15. I avoid delegating to the first person who comes to mind, instead taking time to carefully consider who would be the best for the task.
  16. I carefully evaluate job candidates—employees, subcontractors, volunteers or interns—to make sure they are people to whom I could delegate.
  17. Whenever possible, I delegate complete projects, not just individual tasks that would require my constant supervision.
  18. I often find myself working while my subordinates are idle.
  19. I delegate only the jobs I find distasteful, leaving the good ones for me.
  20. I’m able to live with acceptable work that is not done the way I would have done it. 

Give one point for each “True” for numbers 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, 18 and 19, and for each “False” to the remaining statements. If you scored 7 or below, your delegation skills maximize your effectiveness and the morale of delegatees. A score of 8-15 indicates you may be missing opportunities for strong leadership and greater job satisfaction. If you scored 16-20 points, your overall performance and that of delegatees is likely a major impediment to growth.

The bigger the vision for your business and leadership role, the more important delegation becomes but some of us are mentally wired to resist it more than others. See if this is you by taking our “Confident Leader Insight Assessment.” It’s a fun and easy step to see where your thinking might get in the way of your best intentions to create capacity and scale. Check it out by clicking HERE. 

If you’d like the full report, email me at todd@myroicoach.com.  If you’d like a complimentary 30-minute clarity session with me to interpret your results and increase your capacity in 2023, click the button below to find a convenient time to connect.