Marcia's Leadership Q and A's: What Leaders Can NOT Delegate!
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Thank you for submitting your leadership questions to md@mdaszko.com.
Q. As a new leader, I am not a micromanager and find it easy to delegate. My concern is, what are the primary responsibilities I should not delegate?
A. The buck stops with the senior executive (by various titles: CEO, Board Chair, owner, Executive Director.) Certainly, as the leader you work collaboratively with your team and staff as deeply as possible, but the final, sometimes tough decisions are yours. As the leader, you own and cannot delegate the decisions to design, optimize, and transform your organization. These are the most essential responsibilities you are accountable for. They determine the survival and growth of the company.
Within those decisions are the strategic discussions and then communicating those decisions to all staff. Executive communication also cannot be delegated. The voice and style of the leadership is reflected in the direction, values, behaviors (culture), decisions, systems, processes, language, measures of progress and success, and customer experiences.
Finally, the leader is accountable—for the good, bad, and everything in between. Leading is tough! Transformation is hard. That’s why leadership requires a foundation of knowledge (not superficial management fads, “best practices,” and new buzz terms—like “new normal” and the “great resignation”), and courage. It can be lonely at the top. It is wise to have an advisor or mentor to be able to process ideas with, someone who is outside of the organization, someone who will ask tough questions and help you discover your direction with more clarity.
Send your leadership questions to Marcia Daszko at md@mdaszko.com. She works with Boards, C-suite leaders and teams to pivot, innovate, accelerate and achieve bold results never before imagined. A provocative keynote & virtual speaker, strategic Deming advisor/consultant for 25+ years, and executive retreat facilitator, she is the bestselling author of the book “Pivot Disrupt Transform.” www.mdaszko.com Call for her help today!
