Delegation as a Source of Empowerment

Delegation as a Source of Empowerment
Torah Lessons in Leadership Series

Moshe Rabbeinu on Delegation

Moshe was a humble leader, but he was willing to take on extraordinary objectives. We know this from Torah. Moses made sure that the dream of reaching the Promised Land stayed before the people a key element of leadership is preserving the state of “enrollment”.  The people who follow must stay committed to the intended result, no matter what comes up in the process.  Moshe dealt with many moments when the people doubted,  thought of quitting, or even acted in a way that was contrary to the objective of making it to the promised land with G-d’s blessing.  Moshe faced the same type of challenges that other leaders face.  They just looked a bit different because of the context.  In this essay we will review one example of how Moshe received correction from someone he trusted, reviewed it with his mentor, sought necessary permissions, and took action that made him more effective. He developed his people and left a positive model for the future.

In Exodus 18 we learn of a situation that exemplified Moshe’s leadership. Exodus 18:13-21 says, “The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening.  When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, ‘What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?’

Moses answered him, ‘Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.’

Moses’ father-in-law replied, ‘What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out… Listen now to me and I will give you some advice…You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them his decrees and instructions and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave.  But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.”

Moshe took this counsel to his singular “board of directors”, G-d himself, got approval to proceed and then heeded the advice of his father-in-law, Jethro. Moses delegated authority to men selected to be judges.  In summary, he listened to counsel, and appointed men to help him in leading the people.

There are several points here worthy of note:

• Moshe was humble enough to take the feedback of his father-in-law.  Humility is often a key personality trait of brilliant leaders.  They absolutely know that their success depends on their people.  They cannot do it alone.  A leader who will not take the input or even correction of his team members is limited in her/his capabilities.
• Moshe put in place an organized system of accountability.  His people knew what was expected of them.  Each had a clear area of responsibility and was aware of the overall system so that they had recourse if they needed support.  
• Moshe stayed responsible ultimately for the results.  Before delegation, he was 100% responsible for the results and all the work.  As Jethro pointed out, he was inevitably going to become exhausted.  After delegation, he was 100% responsible as were his people in their domains, and the work got done by many rather than one.

One does not need to be the leader of an entire people for delegation to be important. For all leaders, in all leadership environments delegation is an incredibly valuable approach to leadership.  Understand that I consider every moment of leadership to be leadership development.  Everything leaders do develops their people and their organizational culture.

Delegation is defined for our purposes as the handing to another full responsibility for a particular area of an overall mission.

There are other factors which is not directly discussed in the liturgy, but in our experience are inevitable results of this type of delegation:  The people to whom one delegates such responsibilities, will likely demonstrate an increase in personal accountability in all areas of their work. They will not only develop more efficiently into leaders themselves, but they will generate leadership on their teams, contributing to the future of the organization or community.  Allan Scherr, PHD, a longtime colleague and friend and former VP at IBM and Executive VP at EMC, told me that he would rather be measured as a leader by the number of people he led who went on to significant leadership than by any other factor.  The number of people he managed who went on to lead large organizations was a source of great pride.  This is not just generative leadership, it is wisdom.

According to the Business Dictionary:

Delegation, Definition:

1. General: Grant of authority by one party (the delegator) to another (the delgatee) for agreed purpose(s). Under the legal concept of vicarious liability, the delegator remains responsible for the delegatee’s acts or omissions in carrying out the purpose of the delegation.

2. Agency: Transfer of an agent’s right to act for the principal (such as from a contractor to a sub-contractor) that can take place only (1) with the permission of the principal, (2) where it is customary, or (3) where it is necessary for the performance of the entrusted duty.

3. Management: Sharing or transfer of authority and the associated responsibility, from an employer or superior (who has the right to delegate) to an employee or subordinate.

Read more HERE

Delegation, abdication, and the assignment of tasks:

We must also distinguish delegation from abdication.  To hand off a responsibility to someone else completely (and in doing so remove oneself from all responsibility for that task) is abdication.  We are not speaking of that.  When someone moves out of one accountability entirely and moves laterally to a completely different accountability, retaining no connection to the old position, they abdicate.  Abdication happens when someone changes jobs, leaving behind a set of responsibilities for which they retain no concern.  When someone directs a subordinate to complete a task, they have not delegated.  They have assigned.  To assign a task is an aspect of command.  It gives someone work to do, generally a specific task with specific parameters.  This makes the subordinate responsible for doing a thing.  It gives them no leeway, no commitment to the results.  

Example 1 version 1:

If Shimon tells Bobby, “mop that floor” and Bobby mops the floor; he has done what has been assigned completely.  Were it later to be discovered that there were several areas where mopping was insufficient to get the floor clean, (perhaps there was paint on a section of the floor), Bobby still would have done his job completely and Shimon, if his intention were a clean floor, would have failed to accomplish his objective.  In many organizations, Shimon would blame Bobby.  In my view, Shimon bears all responsibility.

Example 1, version 2:

If however, Shimon had directed Bobby to get the floor clean, Bobby would have been in a position to identify the need and figure out what needed to be done and to do it.  Perhaps he would have immediately noticed that the paint would not come up from mopping and come up with another solution. Perhaps he would have needed to ask for help, or a budget, or report that the objective was not doable without other resources. Bobby would have been in a completely different position. He would have been responsible for producing the intended result.  Predictably, Bobby would report back, a strategy session would happen and a solution would have been identified and implemented.

Version 2, is an example of delegation.  In this case, let’s be clear. If Shimon really wants the floor clean, he is still responsible to make it happen.  He is just doing it through the efforts of Bobby.  Shimon has extended his responsibility to another person.  Bobby is both acting on behalf of Shimon and acting as himself.  Responsibility has been extended to include Bobby, not transferred completely.  In this situation Bobby has the opportunity to use his own mind and figure out what needs to be done.  Perhaps he will need some training in how others have done the job in the past, but he is responsible that the floor is clean.  

Responsibility is self-perpetuating.  People who are made responsible for results tend to feel trusted, respected, and are likely to do a good job.  They will also look for other ways to contribute.  People who are given only tasks to complete,(as in version 1) will generally attempt to complete their tasks with as little effort as possible. All of employment is training and development.  Train people through assignment and the best you can get is obedience.  Train people through delegation and you are likely to create competent participants and often leadership.  

Delegation happens when a responsible party, gives to another responsibility for all aspects of achieving the intended result, while preserving her/his own responsibility as well.  

Everyone who learns Torah knows that Moshe Rabbeinu faced challenges and threats to his leadership.  I cannot say that I know where all of them came from.  I will say this:  my experience is that one who powerfully delegates as Moshe did, creates allies and teammates out of those to whom he delegates.  My guess is that none of his later challenges came from those he appointed “as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens”.  Effective delegation gets work done, frees up the leader to focus on other things, preserves and expands accountability, creates teammates out of subordinates, develops new leaders and reveals additional training opportunities and mandates.  It also and in some cases most importantly, establishes the leader as such.  The delegator is the source of empowerment in the organization.  I doubt that there is anything else a leader can do, that has such potential to contribute to the health and growth of an organization.