Leadership: Leaders, Are You Delegating or Dumping?

Delegating tasks is very central to effective leadership. Image from www.quickbase.intuit.com

Delegation (allocation of a task/s or responsibilities or power by the leader to someone else) is a common phenomenon in leadership. It is likely that if you are a leader, you have either done it, are scared of it, are unsure of it or are likely to do it in the near future.

There are various reasons why leaders should delegate. They may include but are not limited to;

1. Doing it as a practical step in mentorship.
2. To avoid or trim burnout.
3. As a practical step towards inclusive leadership, and
4. As part of obeying given laws or guidance as stipulated in a given constitution.

Some leaders feel comfortable delegating tasks to fellow leaders or those under them while others have a problem with it. The latter find themselves in the trap of dumping tasks on people under them (I define dumping as throwing a task/s or responsibilities or power at someone).

This may be because;

1. The leader is insecure and thinks that once those under them take on tasks and perform them well, the leader may end up losing their “credibility”.
2. The leader is selfish with power and is title-hungry: they just can’t let go of power and responsibilities.
3. The leader is a perfectionist who is scared of other people “messing up” and otherwise preconceived outcome.
4. It may be as a result of a poor relationship (mostly poor communication) between the leader and the one/s handling tasks.

Be it as it may, a leader will find himself/herself in need of someone to take charge and do whatever the leader normally does or what is required. It is at this point that we are going to gauge whether the leader is delegating (as defined above) or they are actually dumping task/s (throwing a task/s or responsibilities or power at someone).

These two terms need to be looked at with a relational perspective towards leadership. This is because the use of both terms is greatly affected by how the leader interacts with those under him/her. They also determine whether the task will be performed out of goodwill or out of a sense of duty and a need to obey a certain command and honor a certain title or position.

Delegation and dumping are action tasks and from the table below, we’ll discover that it takes a lot of intentionality to do either of them. They can only be performed when the leader steps out to do them. Also, being a “dumper” doesn’t entirely mean that the leader in question is a bad leader, but rather, that they are more inclined towards accomplishing the task than they are interested in the person doing it. (Which is a negative thing in leadership by the way.) However, such leaders are still way better than those who never delegates at all!

In this regard, here are six ways to differentiate between delegation and dumping;

No.	Dumping	Delegating
1	The only time the leader gives up a task or duty is when they are absent.	The leader gives up tasks or duties even when they are present.
2	The leader only gives out a duty/task when it becomes tough for them to handle.	The leader gives out both the simple and the hard tasks.
3	The leader gives out a duty/task in order to escape the aftermath of the bad thing that will happen.	The leader hands over a duty/task even when the aftermath is predictable as good.
4	The leader cares less about other tasks being performed by the person they’re handing over the task to. They also don’t care about how committed the other person is at that moment; they just add them more tasks anyway.	The leader cares about the tasks already being performed by the person they’re handing over the task to and will inquire before adding them more tasks.
5	The leader has no relationship or closeness between him/her and the person receiving the task.	The leader has a good relationship with the one receiving the task and they are able t openly communicate even in an informal manner.
6	The only time the leader gives out tasks is when such tasks are of minimal value or effect to the vision of the team.	The leader gives out both tasks of great and minimal value or effect to the vision of the team.

After looking at both sides of the table above, you are able to know your weak points as far as delegation is concerned. I pray that God gives you the strength and the will to become better in delegating duties and in so doing bettering the leadership capability of the people around and under you.

Read more on delegation here:

1. 13 Warning Signs that What You Delegated Won't Get Done

2. How to Delegate Effectively

Bonface Morris.