How Smart Delegation Reduces Leader Burnout (And Grows Your Team)

For most leaders, delegation is a popular tool to help distribute work amongst their employees to ensure success in achieving their collective goals. And yet, a recent study reinforces a harsh reality around how delegation works in today’s organizations.

A recent study from Oracle found that 85% of business leaders suffer from what the researchers call “decision distress” described as a persisting feeling of doubt and regret brought on by the overwhelming number of decisions they’re expected to make.

And this decision distress is not brought on because these leaders are failing to delegate. On the contrary, it’s because they’re delegating the wrong thing.

It’s a truth that came into sharper focus recently during a leadership workshop I was facilitating. The conversations we had were the kinds of frank and honest dialogue that needs to happen more in organizations today – that is, if leaders are to bring more clarity and certainty in an increasingly uncertain world.

And it was through one of those conversations that it became clear that the way leaders approach delegation right now is not only draining their energy – and putting many at risk of burnout – but it was also having a deleterious impact on their team.

Specifically, it was limiting the ability of their employees to evolve and grow to address the challenges they were collectively facing.

It’s for this reason I wanted to use this edition of my “Leadership Espresso Shot” series to share an important mindset shift leaders need to make around delegation, and a practical framework that will help you put this new insight into action to protect your cognitive and emotional energy while helping your employees to grow and evolve.

And I can tell you from the work I’ve done with organizations through these leadership workshops, it’s not just the leaders who come out feeling like they have clarity over how to address today’s increasing complexity.

But over time, their employees end up feeling a strong sense of connection and purpose to the overall objectives of the organization.

And that’s not just a win for the organization, but a win for everyone who makes your shared purpose become a reality.