Friends,
Can I be honest with you for a moment? As a leader, I used to think delegation meant I was being lazy or somehow failing my team.
To put it simply, I was dead wrong.
I remember those exhausting days when I'd stay late at the office, drowning in tasks that someone else could have handled beautifully. Meanwhile, my team members were sitting there with untapped potential, waiting for opportunities to grow. Sound familiar?
If you're leading in healthcare, education, or social work, especially as a Black woman navigating spaces where we often feel we have to prove ourselves twice as hard, you know exactly what I'm talking about. We carry this invisible weight, thinking we have to do it all to be taken seriously.
But here's what changed everything for me: delegation isn't about dumping work on others. It's about developing people and multiplying your impact. The Bible shows us this beautifully when Moses' father-in-law Jethro told him, "What you are doing is not good. You will surely wear yourself out" (Exodus 18:17-18). Moses was trying to judge every single dispute among the Israelites, sound like your average Tuesday?
Let me share five ways I've learned to delegate like a pro, rooted in faith and designed for busy leaders who genuinely care about their people and their mission.
1. Start with Your "Energy Audit"
First things first, you need to know what's actually on your plate. I learned this the hard way when I realized I was spending three hours a week on scheduling that my assistant could handle in thirty minutes.
Here's what I want you to do this week: Keep a simple log of every task you complete. After each one, mark it as either "Energizes me" or "Drains me." Be brutally honest. That quarterly report that makes you want to hide under your desk? That's a "drain me." The one-on-one mentoring session that lights you up? That's an "energize me."
For my sisters leading in social work, this might mean recognizing that while you love direct client interaction, the endless documentation requirements are sucking the life out of you. In healthcare, maybe you thrive in patient care but dread the administrative meetings. In education, perhaps you're passionate about curriculum development but scheduling parent conferences feels like torture.
The goal isn't to eliminate everything that challenges you, it's to identify tasks that could be growth opportunities for others while freeing you up for work that requires your unique gifts and calling.
2. Match People to Purpose, Not Just Tasks
This is where faith meets strategy, friends. I've learned that every person on your team has been uniquely gifted for specific purposes. When we delegate randomly or "fairly," we're actually doing everyone a disservice.
Think about how Jesus chose His disciples, He didn't pick twelve identical people. Matthew the tax collector brought financial acumen. Peter brought passionate leadership. Thomas brought thoughtful questioning. Each person's background and personality served the mission differently.
In your context, this might look like:
- Assigning your detail-oriented nurse to lead the new patient intake process
- Having your tech-savvy teacher develop the online parent communication system
- Letting your naturally empathetic social worker train new volunteers on client interaction
Take time to really observe your team. Who lights up when they talk about data analysis? Who naturally gravitates toward training others? Who has that gift of making everyone feel heard in meetings? These observations are gold mines for delegation opportunities.
3. Give Authority Along with Responsibility
Oh, this one hits close to home. How many times have we "delegated" something but then micromanaged every step? I'm truly grateful for the mentor who called me out on this years ago. She said, "LaSharyn, you're not delegating: you're just creating more work for yourself and frustrating your team."
When you delegate, you need to transfer both the responsibility AND the decision-making authority. This doesn't mean you disappear: it means you trust the person enough to let them figure out the "how."
For example, instead of saying, "Can you organize the staff retreat and check with me before making any decisions?" try this: "I need you to organize our fall staff retreat for 50 people with a $3,000 budget. The goals are team building and strategic planning. You have full authority to make vendor decisions, choose activities, and handle logistics. I'm here if you need me, and I'd love a brief update next Friday."
See the difference? You've given them ownership, not just a task list.
4. Be Crystal Clear About the "Why" and the "What"
Nothing kills delegation faster than confusion. I learned this when I asked my program coordinator to "improve our outreach efforts" without explaining what success looked like or why it mattered to our mission.
Before you delegate anything, answer these questions clearly:
- Why does this matter to our organization's mission?
- What does success look like specifically?
- What decisions can they make independently?
- What requires your input or approval?
- When do you need updates, and in what format?
For my education leaders, this might mean explaining that the new student engagement initiative isn't just busywork: it's directly connected to improving graduation rates and breaking cycles of educational inequity in your community.
For healthcare leaders, help your team understand how streamlining patient discharge procedures reduces readmission rates and improves patient outcomes, not just hospital metrics.
When people understand the deeper purpose, they bring their whole hearts to the work.
5. Train Them Up, Then Step Back
This is probably the hardest part for most of us caring leaders. We want to help so badly that we end up hovering and undermining the very confidence we're trying to build.
Here's my approach: I spend extra time upfront training and supporting, then I gradually step back. Think of it like teaching someone to ride a bike: you don't just push them down the hill and hope for the best, but you also don't run alongside them forever.
In the first few weeks, I'm very available. I share what I've learned from experience, help them anticipate challenges, and celebrate their early wins. But then: and this is crucial: I step back and let them own it.
I remember delegating our volunteer coordination to a newer team member. Instead of checking in daily (my initial instinct), I scheduled weekly coffee chats for the first month, then moved to bi-weekly, then monthly. She flourished because she felt trusted, not micromanaged.
The Heart Behind It All
Friends, delegation isn't just a management technique: it's a form of discipleship. When we delegate well, we're saying, "I believe in your potential. I trust you with something that matters. I want to see you grow."
This is especially important for us as Black women leaders. We often feel pressure to be the "strong Black woman" who can handle everything alone. But true strength sometimes means sharing the load and developing others. When we delegate effectively, we're not just surviving: we're multiplying our impact and creating pathways for others to step into their calling.
I think about the woman in Proverbs 31 who "gives portions to her servant girls" (v. 15). She wasn't trying to do everything herself. She understood that developing others was part of her leadership responsibility.
Your Next Step
This week, I challenge you to pick one task from your "drains me" list and delegate it to someone who could grow from the experience. Start small if you need to, but start somewhere.
Remember, every expert was once a beginner. Give your team members the same grace and growth opportunities that someone once gave you.
Father, help us lead with wisdom and courage. Give us discernment to see the potential in others and the faith to trust them with meaningful work. Help us remember that developing others is not just good leadership: it's following Your example of investing in people. Guide our steps as we learn to multiply our impact through the gifts and talents of our teams. In Jesus' name, Amen.
What's one task you could delegate this week? I'd love to hear about your delegation wins and challenges. Remember, we're all learning together.