How to Delegate

Delegating is an essential part of leadership. Without it, how can you rise above the tactical grind and focus on strategic thinking?

But leadership coach Deborah Grayson Riegel says delegating effectively is harder than it may seem.

“People delegate poorly defined tasks to other people where they’re not clear of the expectation. They’re not clear on the goal. They’re not clear on what success would look like, and they pass that on,” she explains. “And as you can imagine, it’s like a giant game of telephone. It just leaves you a mess.”

In this episode, you’ll learn how to decide which tasks to delegate and how to handle the specific challenges that come with delegating to peers in your organization, in addition to direct reports.

Key episode topics include: leadership, delegating, interpersonal communication, receiving feedback, business services sector, business consulting services, aerospace and defense sector.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original Women at Work episode: The Essentials: Delegating Effectively (2022)
• Find more episodes of Women at Work.
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.