logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2023
46m 44s

How to Delegate

Harvard Business Review
About this episode

Delegating is an essential part of leadership. Without it, how can you rise above the tactical grind and focus on strategic thinking?

But leadership coach Deborah Grayson Riegel says delegating effectively is harder than it may seem.

“People delegate poorly defined tasks to other people where they’re not clear of the expectation. They’re not clear on the goal. They’re not clear on what success would look like, and they pass that on,” she explains. “And as you can imagine, it’s like a giant game of telephone. It just leaves you a mess.”

In this episode, you’ll learn how to decide which tasks to delegate and how to handle the specific challenges that come with delegating to peers in your organization, in addition to direct reports.

Key episode topics include: leadership, delegating, interpersonal communication, receiving feedback, business services sector, business consulting services, aerospace and defense sector.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original Women at Work episode: The Essentials: Delegating Effectively (2022)

· Find more episodes of Women at Work.

· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Up next
Yesterday
How to Succeed in Your Career When Change Is a Constant
Disruption and transformation are the new normal in nearly every industry. So how do you stay ahead of the curve? Over the past four decades, Bonnie Hammer successfully adapted to massive changes in the media industry, rising from production assistant to leadership roles in broad ... Show More
29m 28s
Jul 2
The Right Way to Step Down as CEO
When news breaks of a CEO succession, much of the attention is given to the new leader and how they will change the company. But new research shows that the leave-taking process of the outgoing chief executive is often mishandled, with negative impacts on succession and the organ ... Show More
28m 43s
Jun 25
Why Profits Follow Purpose
This month, we're highlighting some of the best conversations from the 2025 HBR Leadership Summit held in April. In today’s episode, Anish Shah, CEO of Mahindra Group, one of India's largest and most prominent conglomerates, discusses the importance of purpose in driving profit. ... Show More
30m 9s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2022
The Essentials: Delegating Effectively
Delegating is a leadership skill that benefits you and your team. But determining when and how to delegate which tasks to whom can be overwhelming. And the discomfort many of us feel around assigning responsibilities to others or making requests of our colleagues can lead us to f ... Show More
45m 22s
Sep 2023
Delegation Strategies for Managers
In this episode, Jerry Dugan shares some powerful insights on delegation and trust-building that he learned through his own experiences. He recounts a pivotal moment in his military career where the consequences of not delegating effectively were devastating. Through this experie ... Show More
44m 7s
Nov 2023
The Power of Delegation
Welcome to another episode of "Accelerate Your Business Growth"! In today's episode, we have a fascinating guest joining us, Dot Rock. Dot shares her insights on the concept of delegation and how it can profoundly impact business growth. She challenges the conventional wisdom of ... Show More
33m 16s
May 2024
#293: Mastering the Art of Delegation
In this episode, Perry Holley and Chris Goede look at the crucial skill of delegation, a topic frequently surfacing during coaching calls with leaders at various levels. They discuss how mastering delegation can unleash your team's potential, spread decision-making effectively, a ... Show More
19m 56s
Mar 2022
How Leaders Can ‘Play Better Poker’
A missed promotion prompts a leader to complain to her CEO. The CEO responds by getting her a coach, which results in explorations of authenticity, self-awareness and self-management.Visit our Tools bin for free PDFs to help you achieve The Look & Sound of Leadership.This episode ... Show More
18m 51s
Jul 2023
Episode 43: Trust the Process: How to succeed as a first-time manager with Stephanie Herre (Leadership Coach, Sales Leader at Remote.com, Ex-Cisco and SAP)
In this week’s episode, our co-founder Darja chatted with Stephanie Herre, Senior Sales Leader at Remote (ex-Cisco, and SAP). Stephanie shared her take on how AI will impact the future of work, and why we need fewer managers, but more leaders. She discussed the simple steps you c ... Show More
48m 45s
Jul 2022
#142 Marshall Goldsmith: The Essentials Of Leadership
My guest today is Marshall Goldsmith, one of the world’s leading executive coaches. We discuss the surprising lessons he’s learned coaching some of the best CEOs in the world, where confidence comes from, common mistakes leaders make, why changing behavior is easier than changing ... Show More
1h 38m
Jun 2024
686: How to Benefit from a Chief of Staff, with Laurie Arron
Laure Arron: Who Has Your Back? Laurie Arron is the founder of Arron Coaching, LLC and trusted adviser and executive coach to C-suite executives and Chiefs of Staff. She spent 30+ years climbing the corporate ladder at a Fortune 10 company in sales leadership, strategic planning, ... Show More
39m 44s
Nov 2021
Becoming a Leader When Everything Is Shifting
Once you’ve committed to a leadership role — formally and officially or simply in your mind and heart — getting everyone else at work to buy in requires relationship management. How do you successfully shift the role you’re playing on your team? What sorts of conversations help c ... Show More
40 m
May 2023
How to Communicate like a Leader
How you communicate is at the cornerstone of how you build trust, leverage influence, and find success in the workplace. This week on Leading Up, we are talking to an expert on the foundations of leadership communication. Deborah Grayson Riegel is an executive coach, consultant, ... Show More
32m 53s