Delegating Work Is Not the Same as Delegating Leadership

For a long time, I thought I was delegating leadership.

Years ago, during a coaching course, we completed an exercise to identify our default leadership style. Mine was delegation. At the time, I didn’t see a downside to my approach. 

But the course helped me notice a pattern. I wasn't really delegating leadership, I was delegating tasks. I had already decided how the work should be done. Sometimes I had even decided what success should look like. The person wasn't leading. They were carrying out my thinking.

It made me realize that if I wanted other people to develop as leaders, they needed more than responsibility. They needed room to think, decide, experiment, and occasionally choose a different path than I would have.

Leadership isn't just about assigning responsibility. It's creating enough space for them to determine how the work gets done, even when they approach it differently than you.