Sneaky control freaks

Good delegation makes junior people senior, in their souls. They go from being dormant cogs to new outposts of independent, dynamic capability. For that to happen, you can’t be a sneaky control freak.

One way of being a sneaky control freak is to look at the goal you’re trying to achieve and engineer a big plan for it, and then give that plan to the delegatee to operate. Your focus then becomes fussing over the delegatee’s handling of your plan, which amounts to micromanaging.

Or, you instruct your delegatee to build their own plan (to your detailed specifications) and then police them as they build and implement it, which also amounts to micromanaging.

Forget big, detailed plans. We like them because they give us the illusion of control, but they can’t solve complex problems or achieve big goals.

Plan a bit, just enough to let your delegatee get out there and find what’s working, so you can do more of it.

I’ve actually written a book about this.