Trust is one of your most precious commodities. It can take a lifetime to build, and a moment to destroy. I was speaking with one of our Elders this week about the dangers of delegation. He commented that the danger most leaders face when delegating is not that we fail to delegate tasks, but that we fail to delegate trust. The result is that those you are leading don’t feel confident to run with their strengths because they don’t believe you will give them the latitude to soar or make their own mistakes. The relationship becomes one of micro management and distrust from the leader’s side, and lack of passion and ownership from the other. Overall – the deliverables are underwhelming from both sides!

I’ve been reading through the Steve Jobs biography these last few days. I’m a Mac evangelist. Everyone who knows me knows that. But I’m saddened because it appears that he destroyed so many people on his way to world domination. I wonder if their families, careers and lives were worth me having an iPhone? I loved his vision, and passion and drive and attention to detail. I loved his ability to see what didn’t exist and inspire people to create what they didn’t ever think they were capable of doing. It did seem though that his leadership lacked a touch of trust delegation. I’m only a quarter way through the book so as a fanboy I’m hoping he mellowed out a little by the end of his life!

Anyway my point being, having reflected on this phrase, that as leaders we need to make sure that we are delegating trust, and not just tasks. You can’t grow people without it, because they’ll never be able to escape your overbearing shadow.