Be The Boss Of Delegation
Delegation rarely breaks because people are incapable. It breaks because leaders are unclear about three things:
Who decides
Who does
How involved they need to be
Before answering any of those, there is a better first question…
What Kind Of Decision Is This?
James Clear offers a simple filter that works beautifully for delegation.
Hat decision You can change it easily. If it is wrong, you take it off.
Haircut decision More visible. Takes time to grow out. A mistake lingers.
Tattoo decision Hard to undo. Everyone lives with it for a long time.
This question matters.
It slows leaders down in the right way. Not what should we do, but how costly is it if we get this wrong?
Who Decides, Who Does, And How Close To Stay
Once the decision type is clear, three things need naming: who decides, who does, how involved the leader will be
Hat decision The same person often decides and does. Speed matters more than polish.
Haircut decision The decision may be shared or sense-checked. The work is delegated. Check-ins are agreed upfront.
Tattoo decision The leader stays close to the decision and is often involved in the work itself. The thinking, shaping, and early moves are frequently co-owned. Execution or components may be delegated, with clear guardrails and regular alignment.
A simple truth sits underneath all of this. The bigger the decision, the closer the leader stays. The smaller the decision, the more space they give.
Where Trust And Clarity Really Come From
Delegation does not break because people are lazy or careless. It breaks because expectations are fuzzy. People get stuck wondering: what has already been decided, what is still open, when the leader will step in, how progress will be checked.
In my earlier post A Strategy to Build Trust Like a Boss, I make the case that trust is not built through more updates, meetings, or emails. It is built through clear expectations, regular check-ins, and recognition of strengths.
Importantly, that post gives leaders the actual questions to ask, which makes trust practical, not theoretical.
If you want to go deeper on delegation clarity, Four Questions to Ask to Make Delegation Clear builds on this by showing how to define: what this is needed for, what done looks like, what great looks like, what is out of bounds.
Clarity is not control. It is a gift. Clarity builds trust. Trust creates ownership.
A Delegation Audit Worth Doing
To finish, here is a simple audit, inspired by Marshall Goldsmith. Ask yourself, or ask your team:
Where am I getting too involved and need to step back?
Where am I not involved enough and need to lean in?
What am I doing that someone at my level should not be doing and could be delegated?
If these questions feel uncomfortable, there is a reason. Many leaders carry work that does not belong to them. Not because they want control, but because they feel responsible.
If that resonates, Not My Monkey: A Boss’s Guide to Keeping the Right Tasks on Your Back explores why this happens and how to stop absorbing work that limits both you and your team.
Most delegation problems are not effort problems.
They are involvement problems.
Get clear on the decision type.
Be explicit about who decides, who does, and how close you stay.
Revisit your involvement often.
That is what being the boss of delegation really looks like.