Delegation Isn’t About Letting Go of Work. It’s About Letting Go of Control.

One of the biggest transitions when you step into management isn’t learning how to plan, prioritise, or run meetings. It’s learning how to let go.

Most new managers struggle with delegation—not because they don’t understand it, but because it feels risky. You were often promoted because you were good at doing the work. Delegation can feel like stepping away from the very thing that made you valuable. I know this because I’ve been there.

Early in my leadership journey, I told myself I was delegating. In reality, I was handing out tasks while quietly holding onto all the real control. And when things didn’t move quickly enough, or didn’t look exactly how I would have done them, I stepped back in and finished them off “to help”.

It felt helpful. It felt efficient. It wasn’t either.

"Its quicker if I do it myself" - This is probably the most common justification managers use and on the surface, it’s often true.

Yes, in the moment, it may be quicker for you to do the task yourself. You know how. You know what “good” looks like. You don’t need to explain, coach, or review. But leadership is not about speed in the moment. It’s about capacity and resilience over time.

Every time you choose short-term speed over delegation, you create long-term dependency. You remain the bottleneck. Your team waits for you. And, whether you intend to or not, you send a message that you don’t fully trust them.

Good delegation is an investment. There is an upfront cost: time, patience, and sometimes rework. But the return is a team that grows in confidence, capability, and ownership.

If you are always “too busy” to delegate, that is usually not a sign of efficiency. It is a sign of risk.

The second mistake I see often is delegating tasks without authority.

This looks like:

• Asking someone to “lead” something but requiring approval for every decision

• Giving responsibility while keeping control

• Expecting ownership, then stepping in as soon as it feels uncomfortable

  
  

When you delegate a task without authority, you put someone in an impossible position. They are accountable for outcomes they cannot truly influence. Over time, this creates frustration, disengagement, and a lack of confidence.

Real delegation requires clarity:

• What decisions can they make independently?

• Where are the boundaries?

• When do you want to be consulted, and when do you simply want to be informed?

• What does “good” actually look like?

And then, this is the difficult part, you have to honour what you agreed, even when it’s done differently to how you would have done it.

If you delegate and then repeatedly override, you haven’t reduced risk; you’ve damaged trust.

Why delegation matter to your staff - Delegation is often framed as a leadership efficiency tool. That misses something important.

Done well, delegation is one of the most powerful development tools you have.

For the employee, effective delegation:

• Builds confidence and professional credibility

• Develops decision-making and judgement, not just task completion

• Signals trust and belief in their capability

• Creates progression opportunities without needing a promotion

• Reduces learned dependency on the manager

People do not grow by watching leaders do the work. They grow by being trusted to do it—with support.

If leaders can truly see delegation as an investment in their people, not a loss of control, they are far more likely to try it properly.

There is another risk leaders often overlook: single points of failure. If there is only one person in your team who can do something critical, you have a problem. There is no redundancy, no resilience, and no safety net. The same is true of leaders.

If you are away and your business unit cannot function, that is not because your team is weak. It is usually because you have not delegated enough in the past to upskill them. The system is dependent on you.

That dependency may feel reassuring. It is not sustainable.

Strong leaders build teams that can function without them—not because they are dispensable, but because they have deliberately developed capability, confidence, and coverage.

A team that collapses in your absence is not a sign of importance. It is a signal you need to reflect.

One thing to try this week

This week, choose one task you would normally do yourself and delegate it fully.

When you do:

1. Be explicit about the outcome, not just the task

2. Clarify what decisions they can make without you

3. Agree when (or if) you want updates

4. Resist the urge to step back in unless risk genuinely demands it

Then reflect on it:

• What felt uncomfortable?

• What surprised you?

• What did they learn—and what did you?

  
  

Delegation done well is not abdication. It is trust, with structure.

If you are a new or junior manager reading this, struggling with delegation does not mean you are failing. It means you are transitioning—from being responsible for the work, to being responsible for the system that produces the work.

And that is the real shift into leadership.