Delegation Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old delegation quotes, delegation sayings, and delegation proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

People and organizations don't grow much without delegation and completed staff work because they are confined to the capacities of the boss and reflect both personal strengths and weaknesses. Stephen Covey
The scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state he is Man Thinking Ralph Waldo Emerson
Delegating means letting others become the experts and hence the best. Timothy Firnstahl
Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it. Donald Rumsfeld
The great leaders are like the best conductors. They reach beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players. Blaine Lee
When you delegate tasks, you create followers. When you delegate authority, you create leaders. Craig Groeschel
Surround yourself with great people; delegate authority; get out of the way. Ronald Reagan
I find that many entrepreneurs are trying to do everything when it would be cheaper and more time-efficient to delegate, even if there are monetary costs associated with that. James Altucher
You can delegate authority, but you can never delegate responsibility for delegating a task to someone else. If you picked the right man, fine, but if you picked the wrong man, the responsibility is yours -- not his. Richard E Krafve
The really expert riders of horses let the horse know immediately who is in control, but then guide the horse with loose reins and seldom use the spurs. Sandra Day O'Connor
Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results. George S. Patton
The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling while they do it. Theodore Roosevelt
When you delegate work to the member of the team, your job is to clearly frame success and describe the objectives. Steven Sinofsky
The first rule of management is delegation. Don't try and do everything yourself because you can't. Anthea Turner
Sometimes you just have to be willing to delegate and not feel like you're the only one with the answer. Ronald D. Moore
Delegation is an issue of respect and how much we respect those that are under us on our team. Dr. Hans Finzel
Nobody can do everything well, so learn how to delegate responsibility to other winners and then hold them accountable for their decisions. George Foreman
You can delegate authority, but you cannot delegate responsibility. Byron Dorgan
Are we limiting our success by not mastering the art of delegation? …. it's simply a matter of preparation meeting opportunity. Oprah Winfrey
The first job of leadership is obtaining power. The second job is delegating it to subordinates. JBR Yant
Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too. Robert Half
DELEGATION, n. In American politics, an article of merchandise that comes in sets. Ambrose Bierce
The art of delegation is one of the key skills any entrepreneur must master. Richard Branson
Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it . . . . Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine. David Ogilvy
If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate. John C. Maxwell
Every day you meet a delegation going to some convention to try and change the way of somebody else's life. Will Rogers
Delegation means that he will concern himself with the results of their activities and not with the details of their day-to-day performance. This requires a degree of confidence in them which enables him to accept certain risks. Unless he takes these risks there will be no delegation. Douglas McGregor
Many families think of church as if it was a convention - they send one delegate. Wayne Day
Imparting trust, the real meaning of delegation, is a powerful thing. Scott Berkun
When in doubt, mumble; when in trouble, delegate; when in charge, ponder. James H. Boren
Delegation is giving others the opportunity to participate in the story. If you have a good story, people will line up to get involved – to play a part in the story. Eric Phillips
Delegation is not a binary thing. There are shades of grey between a dictatorship and an anarchy. Jurgen Appelo
Delegation requires the willingness to pay for short term failures in order to gain long term competency. Dave Ramsey
As soon as a man climbs up to a high position, he must train his subordinates and trust them. They must relieve him of all small matters. He must be set free to think, to travel, to plan, to see important customers, to make improvements, to do all the big jobs of leadership. -Herbert N. Casson
If you don't know what to do with many of the papers piled on your desk, stick a dozen colleagues' initials on them and pass them along. When in doubt, route. Malcolm S. Forbes
Once you've identified your crucial tasks and sorted out your priorities, try to find a way to delegate everything else. The inability to delegate is one of the biggest problems I see with managers at all levels. Eli Broad
We accomplish all that we do through delegation -- either to time or to other people. Stephen R. Covey
Government has no rights; it is a delegation from several individuals for the purpose of securing their own. It is therefore just, only so far as it exists by their consent, useful only so far as it operates to their well-being. Percy Bysshe Shelley
Distinguish between power and control, delegate, be decisive - and always remember people's first names. Alex Ferguson
Don’t strive to be a well-rounded leader. Instead, discover your zone and stay there. Then delegate everything else. Andy Stanley
As you get bigger, you have to learn to delegate. It's also an excellent way to get staff involved in the company's operations. Azim Premji
There is no reason to feel any shame in hiring someone to pick stocks or mutual funds for you. But there's one responsibility that you must never delegate. You, and no one but you, must investigate whether an adviser is trustworthy and charges reasonable fees. Benjamin Graham
What really matters in a workplace, what helps an employer if you've got a unionised workforce is if your shop stewards know the rules of the game, if your safety reps are taught to be able to examine situations to make sure the workplace is more safety. Better informed delegates, better workplace safety saves companies money. Unions are very good at safety. We are good at teaching delegates how to resolve disputes. Bill Shorten
You can't talk about leadership without talking about responsibility and accountability you can't separate the two. A leader must delegate responsibility and provide the freedom to make decisions, and then be held accountable for the results. Buck Rodgers
For He (God) seems to do nothing of himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. C. S. Lewis
Strategy equals execution. All the great ideas and visions in the world are worthless if they can't be implemented rapidly and efficiently. Good leaders delegate and empower others liberally, but they pay attention to details, every day. Colin Powell
The inability to delegate is one of the biggest problems I see with managers at all levels. Eli Broad
As all entrepreneurs know, you live and die by your ability to prioritize. You must focus on the most important, mission-critical tasks each day and night, and then share, delegate, delay or skip the rest. Jessica Jackley
I don't have a problem with delegation. I love to delegate. I am either lazy enough, or busy enough, or trusting enough, or congenial enough, that the notion leaving tasks in someone else's lap doesn't just sound wise to me, it sounds attractive. John Ortberg
It's very important, who has the most delegates. The super delegates should not be the ones making the decision. Linda Chavez-Thompson
I do not see a delegation for the four-footed. I see no seat for the eagles. We forget and we consider ourselves superior. Oren Lyons
Busy is not a good word, I think. It’s not a good excuse. Get it done; delegate it. Paul Orfalea
Systematic decision review also shows executives their own weaknesses, particularly the areas in which they are simply incompetent. In these areas, smart executives don't make decisions or take actions. They delegate. Peter Drucker
If you really want to grow as an entrepreneur, you've got to learn to delegate. Richard Branson.
The way you delegate is that first you have to hire people that you really have confidence in. You won't truly let those people feel a sense of autonomy if you don't have confidence in them. Robert Pozen
The walking delegates of a higher civilization, who have nothing to divide, look upon the notion of property as a purely artificial creation of human society. According to these advanced philosophers, the time will come when no man shall be allowed to call anything his. The beneficent law which takes away an author's rights in his own books just at the period when old age is creeping upon him seems to me a handsome stride toward the longed-for millennium. Thomas Bailey Aldrich
But because our organization has grown so much and in so many different ways, the delegation process places responsibility and authority on the shoulders of people you can watch grow and watch the way they treat others. Vince McMahon
Do not delegate an assignment and then attempt to manage it yourself you will make an enemy of the overruled subordinate. Wess Roberts