FREE online courses on Building a Winning Team - The Growth Phase - Take
Calculated Risks
The rise of Bill Gates may represent, as The
New Yorker says, the revenge of the nerd, but it also underlines the culture of
delegation prevalent at Microsoft. The results are there for all to see.
Managers, who are always available, closely
supervising staff, doing complex tasks personally, are not doing their jobs.
Their real job is to get the work done by delegating to all the separate
people who work under him. The boss is the most powerless person in the outfit… he
can't do anything on his own! He has to take the risk of delegating
things to others…even if they (as sometimes happens) goof up.
The boss's effectiveness is only
as great as the sum total of his people's abilities. It varies in
direct proportion to the amount of effort put on developing people. Just as muscle is added by
making it work with over-loads, so does stretching people develop them. Pick
your opportunities well. Take the risks to develop
your people. It'll pay off!
QUESTIONS:
1.
Can you explain what is a calculated risk, in terms of delegation?
2.
How can the risk factor in delegation be minimized? What are the
precautions to prevent disaster,
and where is the fine line dividing supervision/control….and interference?
