There's a fine line between empowerment and absolving oneself of responsibility. Effective delegation is a key leadership skill. The key is discerning when delegation is used to empower others and get things done (and get out of the way) versus when we use it to avoid responsibility.
Love this John. I’ve noticed the same on LinkedIn—lots of “leadership advice” about staying positive, and almost none about staying responsible and supporting, serving and standing with your team when things are tough. People talk about delegation like it’s a great skill from the perspective of the delegator—but never talk about the other side of the equation—being delegated to. From that perspective, the way that your manager does or doesn’t remain accessible and ensure you have what you need to deliver is a very big deal.
A useful lens to consider what is happening is that of theory X vs. theory Y of management (https://www.mindtools.com/adi3nc1/theory-x-and-theory-y). Individual leaders tend to gravitate to one of these approaches more than the other. And while many espouse "empowerment" on the surface, not all of them are operating from the same underlying psychology when it comes to their teams.
Love this John. I’ve noticed the same on LinkedIn—lots of “leadership advice” about staying positive, and almost none about staying responsible and supporting, serving and standing with your team when things are tough. People talk about delegation like it’s a great skill from the perspective of the delegator—but never talk about the other side of the equation—being delegated to. From that perspective, the way that your manager does or doesn’t remain accessible and ensure you have what you need to deliver is a very big deal.
"mixed with all the normal Sinek-ian leadership cosplay" 💞
A useful lens to consider what is happening is that of theory X vs. theory Y of management (https://www.mindtools.com/adi3nc1/theory-x-and-theory-y). Individual leaders tend to gravitate to one of these approaches more than the other. And while many espouse "empowerment" on the surface, not all of them are operating from the same underlying psychology when it comes to their teams.
Side note: It seems the numbering is off, last post was TBM 246 :)