Hallo, and welcome back. I hope you have been enjoying the European summer if you live over this way!

Returning to our series on how to delegate, the most valuable discussion I have ever had on this subject took place some months ago. I had the privilege of interviewing a former CEO of the Swiss-based international company, Georg Fischer.

The gentleman in question led GF successfully for several years, and during his professional career managed a number of successful company turn-arounds. I was curious to know how he viewed delegation, and this is what he said on the subject (paraphrased as we were largely speaking German).

‘Perhaps what I do differently to others is that I don’t delegate tasks or methods. I delegate goals. Good people have to be given the chance to work independently and solve things in their own way. Of course I expected and requested progress reports at regular intervals. But delegating this broader type of responsibility is extremely motivating and important. I was rarely disappointed.’

Clearly, this type of advanced delgation is likely to work best at senior levels where the leader knows just what amount of responsibility can be delegated. It may not work for employees who are new to a company and just starting out on their career path. However, goals can be both smaller and larger.

In my own experience, delegating goals and allowing the delegee to decide how to fulfill them has paid off well. People are far more motivated to go that extra mile if they feel that they are entrusted with meeting a goal rather than just with individual tasks. Also, this type of delegation actually saves time because it removes unnecessary police work.

Still, the gentleman in question did remind me of one issue involved in this type of delegation which can be tough for many: the issue of trust. Delegating goals will not work if you are unable to trust. If you don’t feel that you can trust an employee, any sort of delegation will be difficult, let alone delegating goals!

I had the privilege of speaking to the women’s alumni of the Swiss Finance Institute in June on the impact of our private rules on both our domestic and professional lives. At one point I mentioned this concept of delegation of goals and the inherent need for trust. At the luncheon following my presentation, a number of women came and spoke to me. Almost without exception, they chose to discuss this issue, and in most cases told me that they felt they wouldn’t have sufficient trust to delegate in this way. Well, I can only reiterate what this CEO told me, namely that he had applied considerable trust throughout his highly successful career, and had rarely been disappointed. And, this holds true to date for me as well. I suggest that you begin your delegation activity at the levels of trust with which you feel comfortable, and increase the scope of your delegation from there.