Berger Leadership Blog

I've written before about the importance of knowing your limits. As the head of an organization, we need to be aware of how our company is running, but that doesn't mean we need to do it all. Accepting that we don't know everything and trusting others to share the load are important attributes of a leader.

That's where delegation comes in. Each employee plays an important role in the success of the company – so long as responsibilities are distributed based on individual strengths and the value we create. However, there are effective ways to disperse tasks and responsibilities that create employee buy-in.

Leadership development specialist Julia Felton explains that "there is a spectrum to delegation."

"At the end of the spectrum are task-based activities that team members are asked to perform, with little understanding of the context of that task; whilst at the other end of the spectrum, delegation becomes empowerment that ultimately morphs into Shared Leadership," she writes.

Here are tips to achieve empowerment:

• Align job with vision: Empowered employees take ownership of their responsibilities and tasks. They feel that sense of accountability and want to perform well to support the efforts of their peers. By connecting a task to the overall vision of the organization, they will understand how their actions contribute to everyone's success.
• Demonstrate value and recognition: Good office culture is critical and practicing servant leadership is a great way to achieve it. By showing employees that you appreciate the work they do – whether it's through bonuses, work parties, or an unexpected note of thanks – they will respect you and build even more loyalty toward the company.
• Understand contributions: Low motivation can be common in workplaces where employees aren't encouraged to push the limits. Keep your team engaged and energized by believing in them and helping them see how far they can go.

Shared Leadership comes after empowerment, Felton writes, where both the leader and employee collaborate to get things done based on their unique capabilities.

It can be daunting to give up tasks and responsibilities to someone else, but you must remember that you hired them for a reason. They have the knowledge and skills to handle it – trust them. Plus, empowering employees to work independently frees you up to focus more on leadership. Ultimately, that is what you are there to do – lead.

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