Have you recently been promoted to a leadership position? You might be wondering how to delegate tasks moving forward. Can you trust your team members with certain responsibilities? Are they truly suited for these tasks? Should you take them on yourself instead? All of these questions ultimately come down to one key point: the level of trust you have in your team and how you manage your need for oversight.
Trust is Crucial
Leadership involves not only what you can accomplish, but also how effectively you can achieve it. Goal orientation, execution skills, and assertiveness are essential qualities. However, focusing solely on these traits can result in an unhealthy management style. Effective leadership is fundamentally about trusting your employees. This is particularly challenging for new leaders, as building trust can take time. Often, new leaders may feel confident in their own abilities and start doubting their colleagues’ capacity to handle certain tasks. In the worst-case scenario, this leads to the tendency to take on tasks personally, make all decisions, and leave employees with only the work they’ve always done.
This approach is problematic not only for the leader, who ends up with an overwhelming workload, but also for employees, who are often prevented from exploring new topics, acquiring new skills, and growing within the team. The reasons behind such a leadership style can vary, but one common factor is the desire for control. A key point here is that, as a leader, you must take responsibility for your team’s work. When delegating tasks, you must accept the possibility that the work may not meet the exact standards you expect.
Find the Courage to Delegate
Giving up control and delegating tasks is not always easy, even for seasoned leaders. The intentional choice to relinquish control can create psychological pressure. It takes real courage to make this decision, as it involves making yourself vulnerable to allow your employees room to grow. If deadlines are missed or significant mistakes occur, the manager is often held accountable, and it can impact their career. However, it’s important to consider whether the initial increased effort in follow-up and quality assurance is worthwhile in the long run. By doing so, trust and competence can develop, and ultimately, you will no longer have to handle complex tasks alone or entirely on your own.
This is also where your personal understanding of leadership plays a key role. For instance, if you identify as a “Servant Leader,” it becomes much easier to adopt this behavior because it aligns with your leadership values. You will have a clear set of principles that helps minimize the mental strain involved in stepping back from direct control.
The Way Ahead
Yes, trusting others is a risk, both in professional and personal contexts. However, more often than not, you will be rewarded for your trust. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and relinquishing control is a significant step in both your personal and professional development, as a leader and as an individual. If this topic resonates with you, the next step is to reflect on how you can place more trust in your team this week and this month. What specific behaviors can you adopt, and how can you implement them in a project in a way that reduces your need for control? Can you find a way to grow into this new leadership role? It may also be helpful to consult with your coach and discuss these questions together.