by Michael Holland
It was 6:55 a.m. on a Tuesday when I saw him.
I was early for a client meeting and caught sight of one of their newly promoted managers through a conference room window. He was standing alone, hunched over his laptop, flipping between spreadsheets, his email, and what looked like a lunch order for the team. The kind of multitasking we all convince ourselves is productive.
At 7:00 a.m., his first employee of the day walked in. The manager straightened up, smiled, handed off the printouts, and gave a rushed update before jumping back into his laptop.
He was trying so hard to be helpful, to be in control, to prove he could do it all. But in doing so, he was setting himself up for exhaustion and unintentionally signaling to his team: I don’t trust you to handle this.
This is where many new leaders stumble. Delegation feels like giving something up. In reality, it’s one of the most important leadership muscles they’ll ever build.
Why New Leaders Struggle with Delegation
It’s easy to assume the issue is laziness or poor time management. But in my experience, most new leaders want to be great, they just fall into one of these traps.
They Confuse Control with Leadership
New leaders often believe they must personally oversee or touch everything to ensure it’s done “right.” After all, that’s what got them promoted, right? Being the high performer, the reliable doer.
But leadership isn’t about doing, it’s about enabling.
The irony is, in trying to control every detail, new leaders diminish the performance of the very team they’re supposed to elevate.
The Fix: Shift your mindset from “how can I do this?” to “how can I grow someone through this?” That question alone can change your delegation instincts.
They Lack a Delegation Framework
Many new leaders don’t have a process for what, when, or how to delegate. So they either dump a task with no support or over-explain it until they might as well have done it themselves.
The Fix: Use a basic framework:
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Define the outcome. Be clear on what success looks like.
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Match task to talent. Don’t assign based on who’s free assign based on who can grow.
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Set check-ins. Delegate the task, not the responsibility. Stay informed without hovering.
They Fear Losing Relevance
For some leaders, doing equals value. Handing things off feels like risking their own importance. So they hold on often unknowingly.
The Fix: Remember, the more your team succeeds without you, the more essential your leadership becomes. You create value through their growth, not your proximity to the task list.
Effective delegation isn’t about giving up power, it’s about sharing ownership. And when leaders delegate with intention, they don’t just free up time, they build capability, confidence, and a team that actually gets stronger without them hovering.
That’s real leadership. And it starts one small handoff at a time.
Coaching Thoughts – For You and Your Peers
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Think about the last 3 tasks you completed that someone else could have done. Why didn’t you delegate them?
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What’s one task over the next 7 days that you will delegate fully and what outcome do you want from that delegation?
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How does your behavior model what effective delegation looks like to your team?
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Grab a peer leader and swap one delegation idea you’ve seen work. Steal shamelessly.
