The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

DELEGATION: INCREASING P AND PC

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We accomplish all that we do through delegation—either to time or to other
people. If we delegate to time, we think 
efficiency.
If we delegate to other
people, we think 
effectiveness.
Many people refuse to delegate to other people because they feel it takes
too much time and effort and they could do the job better themselves. But
effectively delegating to others is perhaps the single most powerful high-
leverage activity there is.
Transferring responsibility to other skilled and trained people enables you
to give your energies to other high-leverage activities. Delegation means
growth, both for individuals and for organiza tions. The late J. C. Penney
was quoted as saying that the wisest decision he ever made was to “let go”
after realizing that he couldn’t do it all by himself any longer. That decision,
made long ago, enabled the development and growth of hundreds of stores
and thousands of people.
Because delegation involves other people, it is a Public Victory and could
well be included in Habit 4. But because we are focusing here on principles
of personal management, and the ability to delegate to others is the main
difference between the role of manager and independent producer, I am
approaching delegation from the standpoint of your personal managerial
skills.
A producer does whatever is necessary to accomplish desired results, to
get the golden eggs. A parent who washes the dishes, an architect who
draws up blueprints, or a secretary who types correspondence is a producer.
But when a person sets up and works with and through people and
systems to produce golden eggs, that person becomes a manager in the
interdependent sense. A parent who delegates washing the dishes to a child
is a manager. An architect who heads a team of other architects is a
manager. A secretary who supervises other secretaries and office personnel
is an office manager.
A producer can invest one hour of effort and produce one unit of results,
assuming no loss of efficiency.

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A manager, on the other hand, can invest one hour of effort and produce
ten or fifty or a hundred units through effective delegation.
Management is essentially moving the fulcrum over, and the key to
effective management is delegation.