I was a terrible delegator. Here's what I learned the hard way.

I was a terrible delegator. Here's what I learned the hard way.

Not because I was a control freak. Not because I didn't trust my team.

I didn't delegate because I didn't want to burden them.

I was deep in my people-pleasing era. I'd look at someone's workload, imagine how stressed they might feel if I added one more thing, and quietly absorb the task myself. My intentions were kind. The outcome was not great. I was drowning. My team wasn't growing. And honestly? I was robbing them of opportunities without even realizing it.

But here's what I've learned working with managers over the years: delegation avoidance shows up in a lot of different ways.

• "It'll take longer to explain this than to just do it myself." True in the short term. Devastating in the long term.

• "I don't want to deal with fixing someone else's work." So instead of giving constructive feedback and sending it back for revisions, the manager avoids the whole thing and carries the load alone.

• "I can handle it. I don't need to delegate." Until they can't anymore.

• "I don't want to add to their plate." (Hi, that was me.)

And when managers don't delegate? The team feels it. People stay stuck doing work below their potential because no one's giving them the chance to stretch. They stop bringing their best thinking because they've never been trusted with real responsibility. Over time, morale dips. Engagement drops. Your strongest people start looking for environments where they can actually grow. The manager burns out. And the team quietly wonders why they're never given the chance to step up.

It's a loss for everyone.

Here's what changed for me: I started understanding delegation not as a transaction, but as a development tool.

Adam Grant talks about how the best managers build capacity in others, not just output. Michael Bungay Stanier's The Coaching Habit asks a question that stuck with me: "How can I help?" not in a reflexive way, but as a genuine check before jumping in. Ken Blanchard's work on situational leadership also shaped how I think about this: you meet people where they are, not where you wish they were.

Real delegation, the kind that actually works, looks like this: you set clear expectations. You check for understanding. You receive the work with openness. And when it needs revisions, you send it back with feedback, because that's where the learning happens. That moment when someone revisits their work and gets it right the second time? That's one of the most satisfying things in people development. For them and for you.

The first time I delegated something intentionally, communicated what I needed, explained the why, stayed available but didn't hover, and got back work that honestly surprised me? I felt it. That quiet pride in watching someone grow into something they didn't know they could do.

That's what we're here for.

Managers: what's your biggest delegation challenge right now? Genuinely curious. I want to hear what's actually showing up for you.