Leadership lessons: in praise of delegation

In response to my Raconteur piece on transformational leadership, my grandfather, Colonel J.M.A. Gunn sent me through the following pieces of excellent advice, gleaned from his parents, and just as relevant now as they ever were.

“According to my mother, my father’s motto was ‘never do today what you can get someone else to do tomorrow.’

This sounds cynical, but actually has a lot to commend it. It is called “delegation”, in management speak,  and in practice means:

1) Don’t do it all yourself  - nothing is gained by grinding yourself into the ground and losing sight of the big picture.

2) Make the best use of your team and find out how good/promotable they are. You also get their input for free.

3)  Putting decisions off until tomorrow gives you 24 hours thinking time to check decisions before they are acted upon.

 4)  You have to be good at giving unambiguous instructions (bad example – Charge of Light Brigade) – this is a much more difficult skill than one would think.

5) You have to ensure that any clangers your subordinates are about to drop are caught in time – so keep well informed – ear to the ground and instinct.”