The Solution To Leadership Stress, Exhaustion, and Inadequacy – 6 Reasons Leaders Should Delegate

Being a leader isn’t always easy.

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.  Right?

If leadership stress, exhaustion, and inadequacy are common, there has to be a solution.

I’m sure we could point to many things that make leadership easier – getting more sleep, exercising regularly, reading, learning, and finding a mentor.  These are all valuable actions a leader can take to improve their leadership capabilities.  There another solution that too easily gets overlooked and sometimes misused.

Delegation is what I’m talking about.

I’m not talking about pawning off all the unpleasant tasks on someone else and acting as a dictator.  I’m talking about spreading out the work, so a leader and team can be more effective which will lead to less stress, less exhaustion, and a deeper feeling of adequacy and fulfillment.  Delegation is “the assignment of responsibility or authority to another person to carry out specific activities (Wikipedia).”

In yesterday’s post, we learned that Moses faced similar feelings of stress, exhaustion, and inadequacy.  His father-in-law, Jethro, saw what was going on, and he pointed out the problem to Moses.  As we continue the story in Exodus 18:19-27, we learn that Jethro had a solution to the problem he observed:

He recognized Moses’ role in leading the people of Israel, and he wisely recommended that Moses delegate his responsibilities to other men in the community – officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.  These men judged the simpler cases, and they brought the more challenging cases to Moses.  This action led to less strain on Moses, and more satisfaction among the people of Israel.

It seems rather simple.  Spread the work out.  Ease the load of the leader.  Use the leadership talents of others in the community.  And make the community happier.

Why is delegation so important?

In today’s post, here are six reasons leaders should delegate:

6 Reasons Leaders Should Delegate

1. Delegation relieves stress and overload on the leader.  Leadership can be lonely, and it can be a heavy weight to bear alone.  Delegation disperses the weight, so the strain isn’t so great on any one person.
2. Delegation allows leaders and teams to get more accomplished in less time.  If a leader tries to do it all my himself, it will obviously take him longer.  “Many hands make light work.”  By getting more people involved, more can be accomplished.
3. Delegation frees up leaders for other tasks.  When a leader is overwhelmed, he will often miss out on other tasks he could and should be performing.  By delegating, a leader opens up time and energy for other priorities.
4. Delegation buildings a better team.  When a leader tries to do it all by himself, he demonstrates a lack of confidence in his team.  This will demoralize a team.  Delegation done right provides an opportunity to motivate your team.  It also provides an opportunity to develop the skills and abilities of team members which will ultimately lead to a better team.
5. Delegation generates more success.  When a leader gets others involved, he taps into the ideas and skills of other people who might otherwise be overlooked and underutilized.  When a team is used to its fullest, success is a natural byproduct.
6. Delegation prepares for the future.  A leader will not be around forever.  Eventually, he will retire or move on to another opportunity.  It is good stewardship for a leader to prepare the next in-line leaders.  Grooming successors is an essential part of delegating, and it’s the best way for a leader to leave a legacy.

If you want to overcome stress, exhaustion, and feelings of inadequacy in your leadership, it’s time for you to start delegating.  Over the next few days, we’ll take a look at bad delegation and good delegation.  Come back tomorrow to continue the conversation.

Why is delegation important?  As a leader, how have you overcome stress, exhaustion, and feelings of inadequacy?