In principle, high-functioning leadership groups are “hands on” regarding the tasks they are supposed to do and the decisions they are supposed to make. They also understand what tasks and decisions they should keep their hands off. High-functioning leaders delegate responsibility to committees or individuals and then stand aside to let them do their job in their own way with their own creative spirit.
Practical Tip: Before your group takes up an issue, ask “Should we be handling this?” Don’t spend unnecessary time on things you have already decided to let others handle. When you give responsibility to others, it helps when the expectations are written and clearly understood.
Good leaders facilitate rather than micro-manage. A mark of a good leader is that their followers become good leaders. Facilitative leaders clarify expectations, offer encouragement, demonstrate exemplary behavior, and let go.
“Hands off ” is a
tip I personally find very useful. As the director of a program I can
sometimes become impatient with the speed that a particular project is going
– as you guessed too slowly. I find that if I step back and remember that I
had trust in the person to do the job, then I need not worry, my trust is
still there and I can relax back in my chair and know it will come out just
fine.Matter of fact when I let go and stay out of their way, wonderful and
unforseen things happen.
hands off,know your lines,no one dominates — all three of these are something that i have been dealing with in our group and if more members under stood there meaning we could make better decisions more timely
This has been a great tip for me as I have returned to the business world. My tendancy is to be perhaps too “hands on” and have annoyed some of the people with whom I work, by “helping” them and making their decision for them. It would have been better all around if I had thought “whose responsibility is this” and passed on the meeting, and the decision, to the proper place.
This is an absolutely essential tip for effective leadership. Well done, however, leaders need to make sure that they have the tools in place to monitor performance and the outcome of delegated decisions to ensure that the group is traveling in the strategic and tactical direction that was agreed. Otherwise, they will be surprised when outcomes are different than their expectations. I have seen this often in small business. It was this issue that created the “Balance Scorecard” measurements and “Dash Boards” for tracking that have been in the literature since the early 90’s.