29 Quotes To Help You Delegate #LikeABoss

Why do so many good managers struggle to delegate?

Here are two of the biggest reasons:

Fear of Losing Control

Your parents might have drummed into your head, “The best way to get something done right is to do it yourself!” Solid advice, but if you’re too enamored with your own way of doing things, you’ll never learn to delegate well.

Fear of Dropping the Ball

What happens when you pass a project to one of your lieutenants? He or she might take the ball and run a different route than you would. One that might not work. Scary? Yes, but at some point, you’ve got to trust your people.

Good people are ready to take on more responsibility. So be brave and try them out!

You won’t be the first.

Delegating Quotes To Live By

Here are memorable delegating quotes from well-known leaders:

1

“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.”
– Jessica Jackley, businesswoman

2

“You can delegate authority, but you cannot delegate responsibility.”
– Former U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan

3

“A king, realizing his incompetence, can either delegate or abdicate his duties. A father can do neither. If only sons could see the paradox, they would understand the dilemma.”
– Marlene Dietrich, actress

4

“I’m going from doing all of the work to having to delegate the work – which is almost harder for me than doing the work myself. I’m a lousy delegator, but I’m learning.”
– Alton Brown, celebrity chef

5

“When you delegate work to a member of the team, your job is to clearly frame success and describe the objectives.”
– Steven Sinofsky, former Microsoft executive

6

“Don’t be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.”
– Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense

7

“The really expert riders of horses let the horse know immediately who is in control, but then guide the horse with loose reins and seldom use the spurs.”
– Sandra Day O’Connor, former Supreme Court Justice.

8

“When you delegate tasks, you create followers. When you delegate authority, you create leaders.”
– Craig Groeschel, founder of Life Church

9

“If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.”
– John C. Maxwell, American author

10

“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.”
– Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. President

11

“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling while they do it.”
– Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. President

12

“Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too.”
– Robert Half, an HR consulting firm

13

“If you don’t know what to do with many of the papers piled on your desk, stick a dozen colleagues’ initials on them and pass them along. When in doubt, route.”
– Malcolm S. Forbes, businessman

14

“No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.”
– Andrew Carnegie, American industrialist

15

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
– Dwight Eisenhower, 34th U.S. President

16

“If you really want to grow as an entrepreneur, you’ve got to learn to delegate.”
– Richard Branson, British entrepreneur

17

“Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it . . .  Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.”
– David Ogilvy, advertising executive

18

“If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings – and put compensation as a carrier behind it – you almost don’t have to manage them.”
– Jack Welch, former CEO at General Electric

19

“The first rule of management is delegation. Don’t try and do everything yourself because you can’t.”
– Anthea Turner, British media personality

20

“You can delegate authority, but you can never delegate responsibility for delegating a task to someone else.”
– Richard E. Krafve, former Ford VP

21

“Delegating means letting others become the experts and hence the best.”
– Timothy Firnstahl, businessman

22

“Are we limiting our success by not mastering the art of delegation? …. it’s simply a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.”
– Oprah Winfrey, media mogul

23

“If you want to work 160 hours a week, don’t delegate. But you are going to crash and burn.”
– John Baldoni, author and consultant

24

“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”
– Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft

25

“As long as you have the right managers in place and you’ve organized your leadership team so they’re aligned with the company’s goals, you should get out of the way and let them do their jobs.”
– Steve Tobak, author and consultant

26

“The strength of the group is the strength of the leaders.”
– Vince Lombardi, former Green Bay Packers coach

27

“A star wants to see himself rise to the top. A leader wants to see those around him rise to the top.”
– Simon Sinek, author and consultant

28

“The inability to delegate is one of the biggest problems I see with managers at all levels.”
– Eli Broad, entrepreneur

29

“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
– George S. Patton, U.S. Army General