Management The Secret to Delegating: A Must-Read For Your Direct Reports

It is not often that one encounters the perfect leadership book. Most executives read 7-10 management texts each day (according to self-reported CEO data). All too often, though, those books take up precious minutes while having little to offer. 

 

This book is different, maybe. The Secret to Delegating, by Alastair Shlom, is a masterpiece in learning to let go of the need to control, and embracing radical trust in the members of your team who should really be doing the work.

 

Disclaimer, I did not read the book. And you don’t need to either.

 

But your team does.

 

One particularly enlightening passage from the text, which is quoted on the back cover that I briefly looked at, notes that Leadership is not about doing things then telling people about them. It’s about telling people to be doing things and then doing telling about them.

 

In fact, Shlom argues in The Secret to Delegating that the power of most leadership books isn’t in the text itself, but in providing CEOs with something to make their employees read. It all ties back to a repeated theme that is mentioned three times in the summary on the book's back cover. It's a concept Shlom calls Aloofability.

 

Aloofability is a fundamental concept to the 400 page book that means… 

 

Look, if you are VP level and above you shouldn’t still be reading this far. If you’re a Director or lower, you should just read the book. I don’t know what it means, but just shut up and read it. 

 

In conclusion, the Secret to Delegating is must-assign drivel. Just remember not to get pulled into a conversation about it later.