Leaders can lead in an active role or can take on more of a passive role of leadership when necessary. Part of being a leader is realizing that leaders cannot do everything by themselves and that delegation is REQUIRED in most circumstances. Delegating does not mean making others do tasks that a leader is not willing to do, and it does not mean giving up responsibility for the eventual outcome. It simply means giving others the opportunity to serve alongside the leader to accomplish all of the goals and achieve greatness. When a leader delegates certain areas of work to others, it allows the leader to continuously analyze where his or her group is headed and to figure out what needs changing.
Instead of making others do tasks that leaders do not want to do, a leader needs to find out the strengths in others and help them actively pursue their strengths and the group’s goals. Leaders need to fulfill the duties that they know are only possible to complete if they complete them themselves. As I referenced to earlier from http://www.leadershipnow.com/minute0001.html, “Only do those tasks that nobody else can do. Determine what it is you will delegate. Look at what you do and ask yourself if this is really where you should be spending your time. All routine activities and minor decisions should be delegated to others. Also, any tasks that should be performed when you are not there or unavailable are also candidates for delegation.” This brief summary clearly and simply explains how leaders can properly delegate tasks.
Delegating leadership means giving up micro analyzing every single thing that you have input on. As this funny and short clip shows below, delegation is one of the keys to success in business.
Obviously, this gentlemen was overworking himself when he could of just let his coworkers handle certain phone calls and meetings. Although the humor in the video is quite dry, the video clip does an excellent job of showing what can happen if tasks are not delegated properly in the business world.
At Purdue University, I am a leader in various ways. I serve on the executive board as Director of External Affairs. This means that I plan events for literally hundreds of people at one time. Delegating tasks to others around me is key to having everything turn out just fine without anything being stressful. I quickly learned over the past year and half, in my leadership role, that I cannot do everything on my own because I did not have enough time, just like the video clip above shows.
At the beginning of the Fall semester in 2015 at Purdue, I was in charge of planning a paint party for over 1,000 Purdue students. This took so much preparation and hard work. I delegated tasks and construction of objects to certain guys that live in my house. The task simply could not of been completed if delegation and cooperation were not involved. I hosted an event last week that involved having 50 ladies from Purdue’s Purduettes choir. Our house not only had them over but we planned and ate a dinner with them as well as sang songs to them. They performed some of their songs to us as well. The evening went fantastic and I was extremely thankful for the outcome. The truth is, if I did not have multiple guys that were willing to help serve, then the dinner would of been a failure. I delegated tasks such as picking up tables and chairs, setting tables and chairs up, moving couches and sounds equipment, and even the food purchasing and preparation. This event stands out in my mind as one that was only possible because of delegation of leadership among different men. Delegating tasks not only helps leaders grow in leadership, but it also helps goals become achieved!
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