Delegating Responsibilities to Others
Delegating responsibility is a challenging and sometimes difficult thing to do for many department managers, supervisors or lead therapists. One of the major reasons for this challenge is the assumption that "I can do it better."
Some leaders belive that for a job to be done right, they must do it themselves. But how are other leaders going to be developed if the manager does it all himself all the time? It is the job of the leader to make those under his direction into better executives or managers than he himself is and prepare not just one but many who can take over his responsibilities if he is no longer available.
On Andrew Carnegie's tombstone is written: "Here lies a man who knew how to enlist in his service better men than himself." Theodore Roosevelt once said that the best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
Delegation is not abdication. A leader does not lose his authority or his responsibility when he delegates. He must still remain primarily responsible and must guarantee the success of the one to whom the responsibility is delegated. He cannot delegate and then turn his back on what occurs afterward.
It is the responsibility of the one who has delegated the authority to see that the assignment is understood, accepted and fully performed. He must inspect; he must train; he must encourage; he must supervise the one to whom the responsibility has been given. No one can delegate away his responsibility. He delegates his responsibility without losing it. Delegation without control is irresponsibility.
There is no real delegation if the responsibility has not been fully accepted. But just as delegation is not abdication, neither does the acceptance of responsibility mean usurpation. The importance of acceptance cannot be overemphasized. If there is full acceptance, then the delegation should be made without reservation. The leader should delegate the whole job with all of its satisfactions, prestige and rewards. This offers a challenge worthy of the highest dedication to both the one making and the one accepting the delegation.
The art of delegation involves some of the greatest administrative skills. We ought to give it constant, complete and continual study and then back up our study with practice.