Delegation is critical for leaders. Those that try to do everything themselves are doomed to workaholism and getting stuck as a small business.
But there are key functions in a business – Marketing, Sales, Production, Service, Accounting, etc. Leaders need to delegate these functions so they can grow.
But here’s my observation:
Delegate what you don’t understand at your peril. You see, if I delegate marketing or accounting or sales to a manager, and I don’t understand marketing or accounting or sales, I am putting a critical function of my business in the hands, skills, and judgment of someone else. If they mess this up or just aren’t very good at it, I will never know it. If I suspect it, I won’t know what to tell them to do about it.
Become an expert in the critical functions – so that you can then effectively delegate that which you understand.
Passing off tasks without clear expectations of performance/deliverables (let alone without even an understanding) is abdication, not delegation
“Trust, but verify”. Ronald Reagan
Larry, very wise indeed, and I would add that you only delegate to those who have the skill sets to accomplish the task and not just to get it off your pervue.