LibraryPatternsStep Into Your AuthorityDelegation requires giving away authority along with …
Problem
Toward Craftsmanship

Delegation requires giving away authority along with the task. The task I can give away. The authority that goes with it I cannot release. The result is delegation without authority — which does not actually work.

Part of the pattern: Step Into Your Authority
Aureliusguide
Aurelius
Online
The coach is replying…
The path forward
  1. 1Name what you're holding onto
  2. 2Delegate one decision fully
  3. 3Let them own the outcome
One thing to try this week
Delegate one task this week with the full authority to make decisions about it. Tell the person: this is yours — you do not need to check with me on how to do it.
Related problems
Among more senior leaders I shrink — I defer, I stay quiet, I do not claim my seat at the table even when I have earned it. My authority that is solid with my own team evaporates the moment I am the junior one in the room.Every time I exercise authority I feel like the bad guy even when what I am doing is right and necessary.From the outside I present authority clearly. Inside I am frequently uncertain about whether I am the right person for this role, whether the decisions are right, whether the direction is correct.I act as though being in charge means always having the answer, so I bluff or deflect rather than say I do not know. Pretending to a certainty I do not have is exhausting, and my team can tell when I am winging it.I am the one who ends meetings. If someone else tries to close the meeting I experience a mild but real discomfort. The small ritual of ending the meeting is about authority.I am the recognised expert in the room. People defer to me. I spend the whole time waiting to be exposed as less certain than I am presenting. The gap between my public authority and my private doubt is wide.

Working through this?

Talk it through with Aurelius, and start where it actually helps.