Have you ever had a boss or peer completely redo your work or take credit for it? I once worked with a client who was having trouble with a manager that reported to him. During a conversation, the client related that after years of hard work, he had become the company’s expert and director of all written contracts. He would take contracts home and spend extra hours ensuring that they were perfect in every way. This habit of taking work home continued for months.

One night, he selected a draft, started reading, and was disgusted. The draft he held was the sorriest piece of work he had ever seen. He thought to himself, “This is a piece of junk! I can’t waste my time on this?” The next morning, he entered the office upset. He called in the guy who wrote the incomplete contract and threw it down in front of him. The Director blurted out, pointing at the report, “That is trash. I read it in 10 minutes last night and thought, you couldn’t have put in more than 30 minutes.”  The employee just gave him an unwavering stare. Finally, the staff member responded, “You’re right; I didn’t.”

The bold answer puzzled the executive, and he responded, “Why not?”

“’Cause I knew you’d just take it home and rework it. That’s what you’ve done every time, isn’t it?”  The employee just stood there in meek defiance as if to say, “I’ve learned your system. Why should I bust my tail for three weeks on something that you will rip apart and redo anyway?” The awkwardness fell on the executive, not on the employee.

Let Go of the Pencil!

The story helps illustrate a commonly misunderstood concept: effective delegation. In coaching leaders, like the one in the previous story, we often use a leadership principle called “Let go of the pencil.” Let us explain.

Imagine a pencil representing a task or a job responsibility and pretend you are Taylor’s boss. You hold up a pencil and show it to her. You explain, “I have a very important task that I want you to complete. You have performed well in the past, and I have great confidence in you. Here’s the task…”  As you start to give Taylor the pencil, she attempts to take it, but you never let go. Taylor is thinking, “Are you still holding onto the pencil? Why won’t you let go? Don’t you trust me?”  And that’s exactly the message you’re sending to her. Despite all the confidence you’ve expressed, your actions are telling her you do not trust her.

Instead, Express (and demonstrate) Confidence

Let go of the pencil and express confidence in your employees’ potential for success. You’ll most likely be pleasantly surprised with how well the job is done.  Small changes will inevitably need to be made, but allow the majority of their work to be accepted without consistently reworking it. This will improve their self-confidence, help them grow, and enable you to focus on your own job.

When you delegate, you indicate what needs to be done—the direction the employee needs to go. You let go of the pencil and allow and enable the employee to do the assignment. Yet, you must remain available as the employee works on the task. You must be the support system for the employee, but not hold their hand through it. You need to be there to answer the quick questions, offer clarification or suggestions, encourage, provide a signature if needed, establish performance measures, and congratulate.

One of the greatest complaints employees voice is the inability to obtain adequate guidance from their supervisor. Be available. Make it a priority to quickly return messages, clear away the interference, stand up for them, and provide the necessary resources to complete the job. This is how you support and lead others. You don’t abandon or abdicate your responsibility, but you clearly signal that you support your employees in their assignments.

The end of the story of the contract writing Director led to him improving his ability to clarify what needed to be done on each contract before his staff wrote them. He also allowed much of the contracts to go out without extensive reworking. He found he began receiving higher-quality contracts, and his people seemed more pleased to be at work. The executive’s recognition and willingness to change his debilitating style positively affected his staff’s entire attitude.