3 Delegation Lessons We Learned So You Don’t Have To 

Written By Ashley Carlson

Our EAs at Elevate support a number of CEOs in different industries. Our team has gained a lot of inside knowledge about what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to delegating. 

We have also made delegation a key part of the leadership structure within our own internal team. Delegation is at the core of everything we do for our clients and inside our business. 

Since we know delegating better than most, we thought it would be fun to share 3 delegation lessons our team has learned so you can avoid the mistakes or obstacles we faced when delegating in your own business. 

Key takeaways

  • Delegating is a challenging skill that can be improved with practice. 

  • You may not be a natural at “letting go” of tasks, but that’s okay! You can learn. 

  • Feeling overwhelmed is the number one sign it’s time to delegate. 

  • You can sort your work into 3 categories (do, delegate, ditch) to get a clear picture of what can be delegated. 

  • Delegating won’t support your growth if you don’t have simple, effective systems in place. 

Delegation lesson #1: Delegating is harder than it looks 

Delegation sounds simple in theory. Hand something off, free up your time, and move on to the work only you can do. Amazing!

But it’s so much messier than that in reality. 

We understand the value of delegation. It’s not hard to see how delegating creates capacity, reduces bottlenecks, and makes growth possible. 

But letting go is so much harder than it sounds. 

When the work feels important, personal, or unfamiliar, we don’t really believe someone else can handle it. Believing in delegation doesn’t make it easier to actually delegate in real life, especially when the task feels like your baby.

We’ve been guilty of waiting to have perfect systems in place before delegating, and doing that only holds you back. 

Create some basic, simple structures and then do. You and your team will learn so much more by doing, making mistakes, and refining the structure in real time than you will ever learn through planning. 

Instead of expecting things to be perfectly ready in order to delegate them, ensure you clearly understand the vision, outcome, and definition of success. Once you have those three things in place, you’re ready to hand it off and learn! 

Delegation lesson #2: Overwhelm is a sign it’s time to delegate

“How do I know when it’s time to delegate?” 

We hear this question a lot. And usually, the number one sign you’re ready is a persistent feeling of overwhelm. 

When everything lives in your inbox, on your to-do list,  in your head, and across fifteen sticky notes on your desk… It’s impossible to use your time well and make strategic decisions. 

If you notice overwhelm becoming more regular, start by sorting your work into categories so you can begin to create a path toward delegating more tasks. 

We recommend sorting your work into these categories:

  • What must be done by you (Do)

  • What can be delegated (Delegate) 

  • What can be delayed, rescheduled, or removed (Ditch)  

You don’t need a perfect planning or categorization system. The goal is simply to create enough clarity that you can stop spinning and move toward a solution. 

Getting clarity at this point will help you recognize burnout before it fully hits. 

Delegation lesson #3: Support only works when it’s set up well 

Delegating without clear systems in place may just cause more work for you. 

Before you can expect delegating to help you, you need to know:

  • Where your business is going

  • What kind of help do you need

  • What success looks like 

You can’t delegate your vision. That’s your job! But once you get clear on your vision, having support can help you execute your vision. 

Delegating is more effective when you accurately match the right kind of support to the right need. You may think you need admin or operations help, but what you really need is marketing support or a specialized role. 

Getting clear on the responsibilities, goals, and priorities of the support you need will make the hiring and/or delegating process much smoother. 

This isn’t about creating anything perfect. You want to make progress, build trust, and create shared ownership within your team. When there’s enough structure for someone else to step in and contribute (and sometimes even improve the way things are done!) your business will be set up to grow without taking over your life. 

Next steps 

Love learning about delegation for leaders and CEOs? We’ve got more free resources and podcast episodes to help you dive deeper into the world of delegation! 

Ashley Carlson
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