Thinking about a time when you have struggled to delegate, what is it that stopped you from delegating effectively?
Possible blocks include:
Time – takes too long to explain:
Needs time investment up front – then releases time for you.
Won’t do it right / be good enough
Give clear guidance and support
Are you micromanaging? Do you need to learn to let go?
Are you a perfectionist? Identify if you are adaptive or maladaptive perfectionist and take action if maladaptive.
I’m the only person who can do the task
Based on what? You will free up your time and help others to develop. If you do not allow others to learn what happens when you are on annual leave or off sick?
I’m good at it, so I should do it
It’s good to delegate tasks you are already good at to allow others to grow and develop. Don’t do things because you find it easy, do things because it is the right thing to do. You hold yourself and others back by holding onto things you are good at
There are two types of perfectionism:
1. Adaptive perfectionism: With adaptive perfectionism, you continually work on developing your and your people’s skills. Your standards are always rising, and you approach work with optimism, pleasure and a desire to improve. This is a healthy type of perfectionism, just as long as you’re focusing on work that really matters to your organization’s mission.
2. Maladaptive perfectionism: With this type of perfectionism, you are rarely satisfied with what you and the people you manage produce. If something isn’t perfect, you dismiss it. You may experience fear of failure, doubt, unhappiness, and other painful emotions. This is a negative type of perfectionism, and it’s particularly harmful when it’s focused on work that doesn’t make much of a difference to your organization.
Here are some signs of maladaptive perfectionism:
• If you can’t be the best at something, you may give up or don’t try.
• You see any mistake as a failure rather than as a chance to learn and grow.
• You feel upset or uncomfortable when you or your team members don’t complete “perfect” work.
• You don’t enjoy the process of learning new skills and developing your people: you care only about the result.
• You don’t like taking risks, especially when there is no guarantee that you’ll do a task perfectly. Instead, you stick with safe or well-known tasks that you’ve already mastered.
• You care deeply about what others think of you.
• You don’t handle criticism well.
• You expect others to meet your excessive standards. When team members and colleagues don’t meet these expectations, you get critical.
