Think of any profession or activity…in all of them, the competition is tough and increasing. It seems to be something negative, but competition stimulates development.
If there was only one car brand, surely we would not witness the incredible advances of this industry. The same happens in all markets.
This condition creates the need to separate from the competition. Better segmenting your target, innovating, improving customer service, in short; There are countless possibilities that exist to achieve it and not only in business; also as people.
For this reason, in the different positions in a company we find people with better performance than others; and leaders are no exception.
How to be a good leader.
For Robert Heller, author of more than 10 publications and an economist noted for his important achievements at Bank of America and in the US government; To learn how to be a good leader, you have to know delegate.
let’s understand delegate as the activity in which a third party is given confidence in an activity for which the delegator is ultimately responsible.
Knowing how to delegate separates professionals from amateurs, because it largely determines the productivity and organization of a project; guaranteeing quality in the execution and fulfillment of the goals.
In his book, Robert highlights the most important barriers leaders face when delegating, and they occur when the leader:
- You perform tasks more effectively than your group and want things your way.
- You are very busy and do not have time to delegate properly.
- He fears that his group is inexperienced.
- You don’t want to overburden a group that already has enough responsibilities.
- You feel uncomfortable giving up control over the end result of tasks.
- He fears that his delegates will perform too well and put his position at risk.
How to avoid falling into these errors?
If you look closely, most of them focus on the leader’s lack of security and confidence towards his work group. So the first thing is to make sure that the delegates are trained to do the job.
If this is resolved, follow the task of delegating, which for Robert consists of 5 steps:
5 steps to learn how to be a good leader by delegating correctly.
1. Analyze.
The leader must know how much time to divide between tasks that require deep thought and those that are more operational. Robert suggests 60%-40%. With this clear, he should analyze what tasks he can and should delegate.
2. Designate.
The person who will be assigned to carry out the task must be able or demonstrate the potential to carry it out. It is important that apart from having the knowledge and ability, you reflect confidence and initiative.
In addition, it is vital to delegate the task in an organized and objective manner, which shows the delegate that the responsibility that is being assigned to him is because of how important he is to the project.
3. Give Instructions.
Everything must be completely clear, confusions at this point can collapse the entire project. Therefore, it is important to define general and specific objectives and what is expected of each one. Establishes a schedule of progress reviews and the procedures that must be carried out.
Giving the delegate the confidence to ask the questions that are necessary opens a vital space for communication, which will result in both parties being satisfied and the task getting under way.
4. Monitor.
It’s not just about following the review schedule. The leader must manage a balance between control and the flexibility that he gives to the delegate; It is useless to interfere 100% or leave the delegate adrift 100%.
Depending on the task, it is prudent to review the areas that have more risks, ultimately, the leader is ultimately responsible.
5. Evaluate.
Concise and positive feedback will strengthen the confidence of the delegates. If the task was not fulfilled as expected, it is useless to look for blame, because the leader had to identify the failures in the monitoring process, so he is one of the culprits.
Acknowledging everyone’s effort and encouraging those who did the best builds trust in a work group and, as we have seen before, trust is one of the biggest barriers when it comes to delegating.
And remember, if you are really interested in creating your own business, you can purchase our book “How to create a company while working: Discover how to manage your time, manage your money and motivate yourself while creating a company and working for another” , where you will find all the information you need to found your own company, without having to leave your job.
