Delegate to Reduce Your Team’s Workload

Delegation

“On the battlefield, the burden on those on the ground increases when headquarters refuses to trust and delegate,” says Damian McKinney. This is because they are forced to carry out operations that do not fit the situation, or to repeatedly revise plans.

“A superior who interferes in subordinates’ work is the worst kind. They increase their team’s workload while also taking on unnecessary work themselves.”

Leaders who understand that delegating actually reduces the total amount of work are strong.

 
Deep Dive

Mission Leadership® is a management system built on delegation.

When Damian McKinney first told me,
“Clarify the mission and the constraints, and then leave the rest to your team,”
I couldn’t immediately accept it.

I asked,
“Do you really delegate like that in the military? If your subordinates are incompetent, wouldn’t the unit be wiped out?”

He replied,
“There is no other choice. A superior cannot fire rifles on behalf of dozens of subordinates. You give clear intent, delegate, and inspire—so that you can draw out their capabilities. If that still isn’t enough, then you have to accept that it reflects the current capability of the team.”

“But you wouldn’t want to delegate to weak performers, would you?”

“That’s why you train before going into battle—to raise the combat capability of each individual soldier.”

Hearing this, I reflected:
“As a business leader, I’ve been creating confusion by saying, ‘I can’t delegate because I’m worried.’ I’ve also neglected development by labeling people as ‘not good enough.’”

Although I understood this intellectually, I had never truly practiced delegation, so I asked further:
“I understand there’s no alternative but to delegate—but isn’t it tough for those who are delegated to? Doesn’t the burden on people at the front line exceed their limits?”

Damian laughed and said,
“Work actually increases under leaders who don’t delegate. People are forced to execute plans that don’t fit the situation, and every time they report, they’re made to revise those plans again.”

That reminded me of my younger days. Under managers who didn’t trust me, I was forced into unnecessary work and endless revisions. I remember thinking,
“If you had just trusted me, I could have finished this in less than half the time!”

As he put it,
“When peers pass work to you, your workload increases. But when a superior truly delegates, your workload decreases.”
That made perfect sense to me.

Now that I’ve experienced success through delegation using Mission Leadership®, I can say with conviction what Damian taught me. I also ask more advanced questions:
“What will you do if delegating reduces your own workload?”
“And if every manager delegates properly, does the CEO end up with nothing to do?”

The answers are:
“You move on to higher-level work.”
“And for a CEO, that means leading with a longer-term perspective and going beyond conventional thinking.”

In the UK and US, where changing jobs to advance one’s career is common, business professionals tend to think:
“I’ll keep doing my boss’s job so I can get promoted as quickly as possible.”

In contrast, in Japan, you often hear:
“My team isn’t ready yet, so I’ll have to keep doing their work for a few more years.”

Whether or not one seeks promotion is a personal choice. But delegating to reduce your team’s workload and unlock their potential—that is a universal truth.