Skills for New Managers, 2nd Edition

Chapter 10Delegating the Right Way

If one more supposed ‘expert’ tells me I need to do a better job delegating, I’ll kill ’em.”

I could tell by the way Walt looked at me when he said this that he had reached his breaking point. A supervisor of a seven-person back-office staff for the last two years, Walt routinely worked 11-hour days. His boss asked me to meet with Walt to make sure the hardworking supervisor didn’t burn out.

As soon as I raised the issue of lightening his load, he shot back, “I’ve tried everything. There’s only so much my employees can do. Believe me, it’s not like I insist on doing everything. I’d love it if I could sit back and depend on them more.”

The more I spoke with Walt, the clearer the problem became. He assumed he ...