Delegate, But Stay In Charge

IF YOU'RE THE BOSS, delegate knowing that you never completely give up responsibility for your team's success.

It's up to you to follow-up. It's up to you to make sure that the right metrics are in place to track your success. And it's up to you to reward those who bring about that success.

Delegation is a wonderful thing. It extends your reach. It creates more opportunities. It builds your team. It develops people. But if you're the boss, remember that leadership responsibility continues long after delegating.

When I was at GE the expression heard about this was "you can't just throw it over the fence -- you're still in charge". I learned that lesson anew when I returned to the life of a supervisor at Whole Foods.

By all means delegate. Share responsibility and success. That's just good, centered leadership. And keep in mind that if you are the boss, people are still looking to you for ownership, responsibility, and results. They really do want to be held accountable, and for you to hold others accountable as well.

Who have you trusted with important aspects of your vision? How will you make sure that they see what you're looking for and get done what you expect?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Learn more in the workshop: Supervising for Success

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