Delegation Dip Part 1: Micromanaging

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Discernment is a topic I address here often, and for good reason: It’s a key ingredient to many aspects of strong leadership.

One of the areas in which discernment is especially important is delegation.

Whether at home with your family or at school with your team, there are times to delegate and there are times to maintain ownership of tasks. 

Just as you wouldn’t delegate the responsibility of driving your car to your 12-year-old son, you wouldn’t delegate a high-level, mission-critical task to someone who’s new to the school or their role.

And when you do decide it’s appropriate to delegate a task, it’s important that you keep in mind what I call the “Delegation Dip.”

The Delegation Dip is a 3–6 month period where the one who’s newly responsible for a task is still learning the ropes. During this time, no matter how qualified the person may be, they’re likely to underperform as they learn how to meet (and exceed) expectations.

It can be extremely difficult for leaders to be patient during the Delegation Dip—usually because they care so deeply about the overall outcome. And that can lead to three different negative behaviors: micromanaging, neglecting, and hiring too soon.

This week’s podcast episode is the first in a three-part series exploring the Delegation Dip and how you as a leader can respond—rather than react—to this phenomenon. Today, I’m discussing micromanaging, the first of the three most common negative reactions to the Delegation Dip.

Join me for a conversation about:

• The process of deciding when to delegate
• The Delegation Dip and the three most common ways leaders react to it
• What micromanaging looks like
• How you can avoid micromanaging during the Delegation Dip

Even if you’ve never heard its name before, the Delegation Dip is a very real challenge for owners and directors, especially as so many centers face issues with hiring and retention. I highly encourage you to tune in and reflect on how you may be dealing with this issue within your own school.

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

As excited as I am about this podcast series, I’m really only able to scratch the surface of the Delegation Dip and the role it may be playing in your center. If you want to dive deeper into this and other aspects of leadership, you should apply to join our Owner’s Only HQ and Director’s Inner Circle membership programs, where you’ll gain access to tools, resources, community, and coaching that will help you build a school of excellence.

In addition, as a member, you’ll also have a chance to take advantage of our new partnership with BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling provider. As part of our commitment to supporting the mental and emotional wellbeing of our leaders, we’re working with BetterHelp to give our members (plus their leadership teams and staff) one FREE month of counseling, as well as 15% off for all future sessions.

Click Here to Listen on Apple Podcasts

Click Here to Listen on Non-Apple Devices

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and beautiful quality of life.

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

In addition to weekly solo episodes, she’ll also be inviting industry leaders and the changing makers of the landscape of education to give listeners the inside knowledge of what it takes to sustain excellence.

Don’t miss an episode, subscribe today for everything you need for your leadership journey!