The Courageous Leader

6The Courage to Delegate

Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.¹

—Booker T. Washington (emphasis added)

Mateo is a leader ready to move to the next level in his career. He had been very successful where he was for quite a long time. He knew how he was viewed in his division but not across his global organization. He wanted to know what others with whom he had interacted throughout the years outside of his immediate division thought of him. Mateo gave me a list of key leaders he wanted to work for in other parts of the company so that I could find out how they viewed his leadership potential.

To start the process, I crafted several questions to understand better how they perceived leadership and how they perceived Mateo. The questions I used were as follows:

1. What does it take to be a successful leader on your team/in your organization?
2. From your experience or from what you’ve observed, what do you believe are the leadership strengths Mateo would likely bring to your team/organization?
3. From your experience or from what you’ve observed, what do you believe are the areas in which Mateo would struggle or needs further development if he moved to your team/organization?
4. What additional insight or information do you have that would help Mateo continue to grow as a leader?
5. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “no way” and 5 being “without question,” would you hire Mateo to lead in your organization?

Overwhelmingly, ...