Check out this awesome quote from Craig Groeschel: “When you delegate tasks you create followers. When you delegate authority, you create leaders.”
Delegating tasks looks like people “helping you” to get something done. This results in followers. You have the authority—they have an action item.
However, when you give away authority, you give someone else the ability to make decisions on their own, which allows them to step up a leader (yet you’re still the leader).
Great teams of leaders create leaders.
In other words, they’re not just on the team to fulfill a task, but to pour into people.
Great leaders build better leaders and create opportunities for them to exercise their strengths
That means your role isn’t to just do a bunch of tasks and get things done — it’s to develop leaders on your team. There is probably someone in your sphere of influence that you could “free up” to take ownership of something. Your job is to give them that opportunity. The way to do it is by giving them authority, not tasks.
Some questions to consider…
- Do you feel like you have the authority to make decisions in your role as a leader?
- As a follow up to that first question, think of the people on your team. Do they feel like they have the authority to make decisions? (How can you help them to make sure they do?)
- What are some upcoming projects where you can give someone else the authority to carry out a project? (And not micromanage them!)
- Are you building a team of “helpers” or “leaders”?
