October 26, 2026
One of the most common challenges I see in senior leaders is delegation. Why do so many capable leaders struggle with it?
It’s rarely about not knowing how. More often, it’s that doing the work yourself feels faster, safer, and more certain. There’s the worry that quality will slip, the guilt of adding to someone’s already full plate, and the fear of “losing the grip.” And for leaders who rose on the strength of their expertise, it runs much deeper — having someone else do the work can feel like giving away what made you valuable in the first place.
So, the work piles up, priorities clash, and the leader becomes the bottleneck.
HBR recently shared ten of its favourite tips on delegation. Here are the ideas that stood out for me, along with a few from my own coaching work:
🔹 Priority overload is now a defining feature of senior leadership. Delegation is how leaders stay effective, and sustainable.
🔹 Delegate the right decisions to the right people. It’s a leadership choice, not just a time-saving trick.
🔹 Hand off work in a way that empowers people, not just offloads tasks onto them.
🔹 Use delegation to free up time for strategic thinking, the work only you can do.
🔹 Delegating to peers takes some skill. Without formal authority, you lead through influence.
🔹 Many time management struggles are really delegation struggles in disguise.
🔹 Delegate the decision, not just the task. When leaders keep the final say, ownership quietly drains away.
🔹 Let go of “my way.” Agree on the outcome and allow people to find their own route to it.
What makes delegation hardest for you?
Link to the HBR article
https://hbr.org/2026/10/our-favorite-management-tips-on-delegating
