The most effective way to develop people and business is to learn to delegate responsibility. For most managers, this is one of the first lessons they learn.

Ego is the biggest obstacle in delegating responsibility: “There is no way he can do it better than me”, “I have to carefully follow every detail of work I entrust to associate” – these are just some of the thoughts that most managers say to themselves at the beginning of their careers. However, a phase of sobriety follows  in which we realize that, in most cases, the person entrusted with a task does the job quite rightly, even better than we ever dreamed was possible. We need to know that sometimes it takes time for our ego to accept this truth. We are slowly gaining confidence in delegation, in order to get to the stage that whenever a task comes up, we turn on the autopilot that scans the environment in search of the person to whom we will entrust the task. From the initial spasm to relaxation and giving in, the decisive battle does not play with people who report to us, but with us! The battle to loose control.

Managers who do not learn to loose control continue to stalk their employees, check every step of the work entrusted to them, do not support them on their development path, “catch” them when they make a slightest mistake and often – attribute success to themselves!

And in case of failure, responsibility is on the side of the person who was entrusted with a task.

How to overcome the “control-freak” cramp? The art of delegation is based on a simple calculation of every development – what do I lose in the short term and gain in the long run?

In the short term, we give out a part of the control we received in accordance with the position. The task may not be completed in the best way at the beginning, but it is a “loss” that is corrected with good mentoring.

It’s more important  what we get in the long run. In the first place it’s the vigorous development of the business ran on the best fuel – employee development!

Less attention to detail, less “measurement of pressure” at work and more time for new development!

A manager with low self-esteem does not delegate. Loosening control would indicate to their vulnerability and self-doubt. On the other hand, tremendous control over everything leads to an increaseof tension in them – which is manifested in various ways in an organization.

The extreme case is a “dictator” manager. His (her) “strength” is based on denying his weaknesses, which he projects onto his associates and then controls that very weakness in others. Control is the key word for a dictator! Such a manager sees people as things he can control. Dictators, of course, do not work on development – i  neither of themselves nor others.

Loosening control is learned and developed along with gaining confidence in oneself as a manager. On this “per aspera ad astra” path of development of manager and team, there is a common denominator – trust! (Nedeljnik, February 2019)