Things Leaders Do

You're Delegating Wrong

• Colby Morris

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0:00 | 16:33

You're delegating all the time—assigning projects, distributing work, telling people what needs to get done. So why do they keep coming back to you with questions? Because you're delegating tasks, not authority. And there's a massive difference.

When you delegate tasks, you're saying "Do this thing exactly how I would do it." When you delegate authority, you're saying "This is yours. You own it. Make the calls."

In this episode, you'll learn:

  • The 3-step framework for delegating authority without creating chaos
  • Why "Never bring me just a problem" transforms your team into problem-solvers
  • How to set guardrails so people have freedom without going rogue
  • What to do when you've delegated but can't stop checking in
  • The real difference between task delegation and authority delegation

Common questions answered in this episode:

  • How do I delegate without losing control of the outcome?
  • What's the difference between delegating tasks and delegating authority?
  • How do I get my team to stop asking me for every decision?
  • What if they do it differently than I would?
  • How do I build decision-makers instead of task-followers?

Key takeaway: You don't delegate tasks to create leaders. You delegate authority. And it starts with trusting people before they're perfect.

Connect with Colby:

Colby works with organizations through keynote speaking, executive coaching, and leadership training to build people-first cultures that get results.


Why Task Delegation Fails

SPEAKER_00

People first leadership. Actionable strategies, real results. This is Things Leaders Do with Colby Morris.

Tasks Versus Authority Explained

Fears About Letting Go

A Social Media Win From Trust

Three-Step Delegation Framework

From Problems To Proposed Solutions

Turning Contributors Into Leaders

Weekly Challenge To Delegate Authority

Announcements And How To Connect

SPEAKER_01

Here's a question for you. When was the last time you delegated something to your team and then found yourself checking in on it like, you know, three times before lunch? If you're nodding right now, well, you're not alone. And honestly, you're probably not really delegating at all. Let me paint the picture for you. You hand off a project, you give someone the assignment, you tell them what needs to get done and when you need it. And you feel good about it because, hey, you delegated. But then what happens? Two hours later, your phone lights up. Quick question. Do you want me to include this part or just focus on that? The next day. I ran into an issue. What should I do? Thursday afternoon. I've got a draft. Can you review it before I finalize? And then Friday morning, just want to make sure this is what you wanted. And you're just sitting there thinking, I gave you this project four days ago. Why am I still making every single decision? Here's what's actually happening. You didn't delegate. You just redistributed your to-do list. You told them what to do, but you kept all the decision making for yourself. So they're doing the work, but you're still doing all the thinking. And look, I get it. It feels safer this way. You stay in control. You you make sure it's done right. You avoid the risk of them messing it up. But here's the cost. Your team never grows. They never learn to make decisions. They never develop confidence or competence. And you, well, you stay in, you know, buried in the work you supposedly delegated. Today I'm walking you through the difference between delegating tasks and delegating authority. How to actually empower someone to think, not just execute. And how to build a team of decision makers instead of a team of really expensive box checkers. Here's the truth. And this is from Craig Rochelle. You don't delegate tasks to create leaders. You delegate authority. Hey leaders, this is Colby Morris, and this is the Things Leaders Do podcast. As always, I'm trying to give you 15 to 30 minutes of practical, actionable tools to help you be a better leader faster. Trying not to give you any theory, no fluff, just real guidance that you can actually use today. Like when you walk in the door. Like immediately. Here's what most of us do when we delegate. We call someone into our office or send a Slack message or mention it in a meeting. Hey, I need you to handle the Q2 budget review. Can you pull together the numbers, analyze the variances, and put together a summary? I'll need it by Friday. And that feels like delegation, right? You handed off the work. You gave them ownership. You even gave them a deadline. Is that here's what happens next? They come back with questions. Lots of questions. Do you want me to include marketing spend or just operations? Should I flag this variance or just note it? Can you review the draft before I send it? And again, you're thinking, why am I still doing all the work? Here's why. You delegated the task, but you kept the authority. You told them what to do, but you didn't give them permission to actually make any calls. So they're stuck in this weird limbo where they're doing the work, but you're still doing all the thinking. Think about it this way. If you have kids, or you know, your kids are growing or whatever, you you don't teach them to ride a bike by holding the handlebars and pushing them around the block for six months. At some point, you have to let go and let them wobble a little. It's the same thing with leadership. At some point, you have to let your people make decisions and yes, some you know, mistakes on their own. Here's the difference between task delegation and authority delegation. Task delegation sounds like this. Hey, Mary, can you send that report to the client by 3 p.m.? Make sure you use the template from last month and copy me on the email. That's task delegation. You know, Mary learns nothing except how to follow instructions. She's basically a very well-paid copy machine. Authority delegation sounds like this. Hey Mary, I want you to be the point person for our monthly client communications. You decide the format, the timing, and the messaging. You know, here's the here's the outcome we need. Strong client relationships and clear project updates. How do you think we should approach it? You feel the difference? In the first example, Mary's just executing. In the second example, Mary has to think, create, and own the result. Now, I know what some of you are thinking, but Colby, what what if they mess it up? What if they do it differently than I would? And here's my question back to you. So what? I'm not saying be reckless, but I am saying that your way may not be the only way. And sometimes, stay with me here, their way might actually be better. I remember when I first started giving my marketing person full authority over our social media strategy. My first instinct, yeah, was to review every single post, speak every single caption, make sure it sounded like, you know, me. But when I finally stepped back and just let her run with it, yeah, our engagement went up. Yeah, not by a little bit either, by 40%. Turns out she understood our audience better than I did. Who knew? All right, so how do we actually do this? How do you delegate authority without it turning into chaos? Let me give you a simple framework I use. Three steps that make delegation feel less scary and more strategic. Step one, paint the picture. Okay, don't just tell them what to do. Help them see what success looks like. Instead of update the spreadsheet, try this. Our goal is to have real-time visibility into project status so we can catch problems early and figure out the best way to make that happen. See the difference? You're not dictating the process, you're defining the outcome. At step two, you have to set the guardrails. Okay, this isn't about micromanaging, it's about clarity. If they're making financial decisions, what's the limit? If they're handling client issues, what requires your input? You've got to give them a sandbox they can play in freely. I had a leader recently tell her team, you have full authority to make any necessary purchases under$200. If you need something, don't wait on me. A few days later, she called me. She said, Colby, it was amazing. A safety issue came up at one of our locations. Normally that would have hijacked my whole morning, tracking down what to buy, placing the order, following up. But my team member, she just handled it. She bought what was needed for a little over a hundred dollars, kept everyone safe, and then told me after. The whole thing took two minutes of her day, one quick phone call, because she had already given that authority. That's the power of guardrails. Everyone knows what they own. And then step three, get out of the way. This is the hardest part for most leaders. Yeah, me included. Once you've handed it off, you've got to actually let it go. No hovering. No just checking in every two hours. No, I know you've got this, but have you thought about doing it this way instead? Look, check in, but don't hover. Ask, what do you need from me? Instead of, here's what you should do next. And when you step back, you give your you give your people that space to grow and yourself space to actually lead. Now, here's something I teach my teams, and it's been a game changer. Never bring me just a problem. If there's a problem, bring me at least two solutions. And then be able to tell me which one you think we should use and why. My teams always know this. They know I'm not going to answer a standard problem question. I'm going to answer a question with a question. Okay. What does that mean? If they came to me and said, hey, Colby, I don't know what we should do about this. I would say, what have we done in the past? What have you researched? Things like that. Okay. And that's what makes their development so powerful. They learn to think and problem solve like a leader. Here's what this looks like in practice. The bad version. Hey, we've got a problem with the vendor. What do you want me to do? The good version. Hey, we've got our problem with the vendor. I've got two options. We can renegotiate the contract or we can switch for our backup vendor. I think we should renegotiate because, man, we've got a good relationship and switching would delay the project by two weeks. What do you think? See how different that is? In the first version, they're just dumping the problem in your lap and waiting for you to solve it. In the second version, they've already done the thinking. They just, they just want your input. That's what authority delegation creates. Okay? People who solve problems instead of just reporting them. Let me tell you a story. I had a team member who had been quiet, you know, hesitant for months. She was dependable, but she just wasn't really, you know, driving change. Holly contributor, but not really what I would call a leader. So I gave her full ownership over a cross-team project. And I told her, hey, this is yours. You decide how we move forward. Not only did she own it, she exceeded every timeline. She rallied the entire team. She had people coming to her for guidance. She went from solid contributor to emerging leader because she was trusted to lead. And that shift, that's that's what we're after. And here's something beautiful that happens when you develop leaders this way. Succession planning becomes automatic. Okay. You don't you don't have to worry or wonder about who's ready for the next role. You you already know because you've seen how they lead when they're given the space to actually lead. And let's be honest, it's it's how you take a real vacation without worrying about your, you know, you know that your phone's going to explode. When you've built decision makers, you can unplug without fear that everything's going to fall apart the moment that you do. But more than that, this is what a you know a people first leader does. It takes a mentally strong, self-confident leader to delegate authority. Okay, one who knows that leadership isn't about hoarding control. It's about creating more leaders, even the ones that might one day succeed you. And that's that's real leadership. All right. Here's what I want you to try this week. And I mean this literally, not in theory. I want you to open up your calendar or your task list and find one thing that you've been holding on to way too tightly. It it could be a recurring report, it could be a client communication, a a vendor follow-up, anything that that keeps ending up in your hands. Now here's what I want you to do. First, define the outcomes. Okay, what does success actually look like? And then set the boundaries. What decisions are in their court and what needs to come back to you? And then three, hand it off fully. Let them drive. Let them ask questions, but but let them own it. And at your next check-in, resist the urge to take it back. Instead, I want you to ask, what support do you need from me? That moment right there, man, that's where leadership starts to grow. All right, let me ask you one more question. What kind of leader do you want to be remembered as? The one who did everything perfectly, or the one who developed other people to lead? Delegating authority takes courage. Okay? It means trusting people before they're perfect. Did you hear me? It means trusting people before they're perfect. It means being okay with things, not always being done your way. But the payoff, you're not just getting things off your plate. You're building the kind of leaders who will one day replace you. And that is the highest compliment to your leadership. And you've got this. All right, leaders, before we wrap up, I want to remind you that April 2026, I'm planning to launch a second podcast episode each week, an interview series where I'll sit down with leaders to discuss the actionable tools they've learned through their careers. And around that same time, God help us, I'm also planning to launch the YouTube version of this podcast. Now, if your organization is struggling with delegation, building team capacity, or developing leaders who can actually think for themselves, I'd love to help. I work with organizations through keynote speaking, executive coaching, and leadership training to build people-first cultures that get results. You can connect with me on LinkedIn, or you can visit my website, and both of those links are in the show notes. And hey, if this episode was helpful, would you do me a favor? Please subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts and leave me a review, and share it with another leader who's tired of making every decision for their team. And remember, keep delegating authority, not just tasks. Keep building problem solvers and keep trusting your team before they're perfect. And you know why? Because those are the things that leaders do.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you for listening to Things Leaders Do. If you're looking for more tips on how to be a better leader, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and listen to next week's episode. Until next time, keep working on being a better leader by doing the things that leaders do.