How To Build Leadership Qualities by Delegating Authority

Great leaders delegate authority all the time, practically at every opportunity. It's more than just a way to get things done — it's also one of the best ways to develop leadership skills in an organization. 

Leaders are people who embody an organizational culture and pursue a unified vision of success. There are a number of qualities — or skills, rather — that make people effective in this complex role. Here are some examples, with explanations of how delegation helps cultivate the skill.

1. Integrity

When you're working alone on a task, it's relatively easy to let integrity fall by the wayside. You have to stick to your principles and your vision to make sure everything is happening the way it should.

Leadership and golf are similar in this way. When you break the rules to lower your score in golf, you're not really playing the game anymore. When you deviate from your vision as a leader, you're not really leading your organization.

Delegating responsibilities is a way to show people that integrity matters. They will experience the fact that, when they're in charge, their decisions have to come from a focus on the organization's vision. Otherwise, they're playing the wrong game.

2. Perseverance

One of the qualities that people value most in their leaders is perseverance. One of the key elements of succeeding while persevering is knowing when to push forward and when to draw back. 

Perseverance in leadership is more than just barreling forward, using one technique to accomplish one task. You observe, remember, practice and use all of the skills at your disposal to secure the best outcome possible.

It takes experience to learn the difference. Delegating leadership tasks gives people a safe way to learn about true perseverance and how it leads more effectively than simple stubbornness.

3. Empathy

Delegating authority is a good way to teach people the soft skill of empathy. It helps people understand the role of emotion in leadership and in organizations.

Some of your delegates will practice empathy. Others will develop the insights necessary to recognize and engage the empathy of others. There's more than one solution to any challenge, and delegating authority gives people an opportunity to feel out the best way in any given situation.  

Why Delegation Matters to Your Organization 

Delegating leadership responsibilities helps grow these and many other qualities in future leaders. However, it also strengthens the current leaders of your organization.

The ability to delegate and the judgment to do so effectively are both hallmarks of effective leadership. In other words, by actively pursuing opportunities to grow your team, you're growing yourself.

Can you make the decision of knowing when to push forward and when to draw back in order to succeed?