It is always so easy to delegate... upwards!

Delegation is something very strange.

Leaders are trying desperately to learn how to delegate and better manage their time, while their staff are real experts at delegating their responsibilities to the boss.

Here is an example.

Charles is about to enter the elevator when Mario, one of his staff, stops him.

“Good morning, Boss. Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you about something urgent!”

“Tell me, quickly!”

Mario reports to him the issue of a software application for order fulfilment that is not working properly: he’s a well-prepared guy and describes the situation in detail.

Charles gets involved because he likes to solve problems quickly.

Time flies.

Charles looks at his watch: what appeared to be 5 minutes are actually 20 and he is late for the meeting with a customer.

Here is what he tells Mario.

“This is serious stuff, and the guy in the software dept is a tough one. But I can’t talk to him now. Let me think about it, I’ll let you know.”

Two days later Mario goes back to Charles.

“Morning Boss! Is there any news about the order fulfilment issue?”

“No, these days are crazy, and the budget is in the way. I plan to deal with it tomorrow.”

” Please, I’m quite worried about it. I’ll email you to recall it.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Now the roles are perfectly reversed,
and everything is frozen until the Boss acts.

Do you see?

Mario is a true expert in upward delegation.

And what about you?

Have you ever used upward delegation?