Delegation as a Tool for Development

Most managers lose almost a full workday every week doing tasks someone on their team could handle. Yet those same managers say they don’t delegate because it’s “faster to do it myself.” In this episode, we’ll pull apart that paradox—and turn delegation into your strongest growth tool.

Here’s the twist: the tasks you’re clutching the tightest are often the exact ones that could unlock the next level of someone on your team. Not the low-stakes admin work, but the projects that feel just risky enough that your instinct is to say, “I’ll handle it.” That instinct protects your standards, but it can quietly cap your team’s potential—and your own ceiling. Research shows that when managers hand over not just tasks but also thinking and decision rights, their teams don’t just “keep up”; they start to anticipate, innovate, and own outcomes. Think of those moments when you’re the bottleneck in your inbox or approvals queue. Each delay is a signal: this is a place where someone else could be learning, stretching, and eventually operating without your constant oversight.

So where do you start? Not by dumping your least favorite work, but by zooming out on your calendar like you’d zoom out on a city map. Look for “landmarks”: recurring projects where you’re always in the middle, high-judgment calls that arrive predictably, or cross-functional work that exposes people to new partners. Research suggests these “edge-of-comfort” responsibilities are where confidence compounds fastest. The goal isn’t to abandon them—it’s to intentionally share them, with enough context, guardrails, and support that someone else can navigate the route without you riding shotgun forever.