Some time ago, I learned in the middle of the flight that the copilot was new to the airline — very young, barely started. My flight commander reassured us: he was spectacular, and we were in the best hands we could be.
Years earlier, I cut my hand in a worrying place, and the emergency room doctor introduced himself by explaining that he was an R1, a first-year doctor. In other words, less than one year before, he was a student. Now he had my hand in his inexperienced ones.
Neither airlines nor hospitals are businesses where risks are taken lightly. They do not eliminate supervision, but they calibrate it. The new, promising pilot was not flying alone with 200 passengers, and the newly graduated doctor was not in charge of a life-or-death intervention. What they are doing is delegating with a safety net.
Being part of the training period of a doctor or a pilot is not the cup of tea of many people. However, veteran pilots and doctors needed passengers and patients to become such. The same applies to any other profession, not only in the early beginnings, but also as people grow in their skills and broaden their scope. We are continuously learning and growing.
We should differentiate between delegation and supervision. In order to delegate, we probably need to start by supervising. Nevertheless, this is not black or white, and we must find the right balance for each moment, person, and task. It is probably one of the trickiest activities for a leader or manager.
From this perspective, leaders need to learn to live with less control.
- You must overcome the fear that others will not do as good a job as you think you would do. This requires building trust, a topic I addressed in the post about The Diplomat.
- You must also avoid the short-term mindset of “I do this faster,” and instead invest in the long-term development of your team.
- Full control not only limits your own growth as a leader, it also exposes your weakness. Moreover, you become the bottleneck of your whole team, which most likely leads to worse performance for you as well, on top of a demotivated team.
- It is also valuable to see different people face and solve issues in ways different from your own. This is an opportunity to learn new points of view and methodologies, some of which you may start applying yourself. Learning from your team is one of the main takeaways of leading a team.
From the point of view of the person learning and growing, facing new challenges also carries risks if not properly managed and supported.
- Regardless of who is reading this now, you are probably learning and growing these days. It may or may not be your first experience, but you are certainly learning often.
- We all need to feel supported when we are growing, while at the same time feeling in control and having ownership of the final outcome.
- Mistakes are acceptable. Not traumatic ones, but mistakes made in a controlled environment help us identify where to put more focus, time, or change next time. This is far more effective than simply repeating what someone else tells us to do.
One of the best lessons I learned about this, perhaps because it came when I needed it most, was from one of my first managers. He put many new challenges in front of me, and after some time, when I started to struggle, he reminded me: “You may feel I am throwing you into the water, and you might not know whether you can swim, but I am next to the pool, ready to give you a hand and take you out of the water.” That gave me even more confidence and allowed me to keep growing under his leadership.
This tension between control and growth is not something you solve once — it shifts with every person and every task. So, how can we manage it? For me, the easiest model for finding that balance is Situational Leadership, by Hersey and Blanchard. Simple but powerful.
This model defines four leadership styles based on a person’s competence and commitment for a specific task. The needed leadership style is not linked to the person, but to the task itself.
- S1 – Directing: No experience or confidence in the particular task. Clear, concrete instruction and close supervision are needed.
- S2 – Coaching: Some experience exists, but confidence still needs to be built. The focus shifts to the why, and input is requested.
- S3 – Supporting: Competence is fully there, and the leader is only present to support when needed. No instructions, just facilitation and encouragement.
- S4 – Delegating: Near-total autonomy. The leader defines the expected outcome, and supervision is minimal, usually limited to outcome checkpoints.
Coming back to the doctor taking care of my cut: he was probably in S3 or S4 for that particular procedure, but S1 for complex procedures. The needed leadership style is not linked to the person, but to the task itself.