Same Headcount, Better Numbers
When performance is short, the instinct is to reach for headcount or a restructure. Both are expensive, both take months, and both assume yo
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Topic guide · 24 articles
Delegation Skills
Stop being the bottleneck. Delegation frameworks that build team capability while freeing your time for strategic work.
Most leaders delegate tasks. The best delegate outcomes. These articles show you the difference and how to make the shift.
Stop being the bottleneck. Learn delegation frameworks that build team capability while freeing your time for strategic work, so decisions stop stalling on your desk.
Your Managers Do Not Need to Step Up. You Need to Get Out of Their Way.
"I just need my managers to step up." Nearly every senior leader says some version of this. It sounds reasonable. It is almost always the wr
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The Delegation Gap You Are Not Talking About
Your managers say they delegate. What they actually do is distribute tasks and stay close enough to take them back. The result? They are ov
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The One Leadership Lesson Most Senior Leaders Learn Too Late
An Amazon executive once shared that he receives 1,500 to 2,000 emails every single day. Out of all those messages, only 15 to 20 are genuin
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How to Tell If Your Team Is Doing Busy Work or Breakthrough Work
When I coach managers of managers, I see the same pattern. Diaries full. Meetings that update but do not decide. Teams busy, yet the results
Read article →Five Small Shifts That Keep Paying Off for Managers of Managers
These five amplifying shifts keep surfacing in Amplify cohorts. Different industries, same patterns. They look small. They work because they
Read article →Why Your Management Playbook Is Outdated and What Replaces It
My most valuable leadership lesson wasn't learned in a classroom. It was learned with the bite of an enormous backpack digging into my shoul
Read article →Why Your Managers Have Good Intentions but No Capacity Left
When leaders know what to do but can't do it
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Why Your Managers Believe the Right Things but Do Not Change
Most leadership programmes teach the wrong thing entirely
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Why Reading About Leadership Will Not Make You a Better Leader
We've all met them. The leader who has read every leadership book on the shelf.
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How to Deal with Feeling Like a Fraud in a Senior Role
Chances are that you have been successful for most of your career.
Read article →How Four Hidden Tensions Are Blocking Your Team's Performance
Leadership is hard because it’s a game of tensions:
Read article →How to Delegate Without Losing Control or Creating More Work
There we were in a workshop, talking about how to hand over tasks effectively, to free up energy and time to focus on more important things.
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How to Build Resilience That Goes Beyond Coping
In today's ever-evolving world, resilience is the secret ingredient that empowers us to navigate challenges and truly thrive in the face of
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Why Burnout Is Not Weakness and What Leaders Must Do About It
In the fast-paced world of high-performance, burnout often emerges as an unwelcome guest. It's a common misconception that burnout equates t
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How One Abrasive Leader Can Quietly Destroy Your Culture
In the dynamic world of leadership, few challenges are as pervasive and damaging as dealing with abrasive leaders.
Read article →How Your Daily Habits Might Be Driving Your Burnout
The repercussions of burnout are absolutely devastating, not just for individuals but also for organizations.
Read article →How to Reclaim Your Identity When Work Has Taken Over
The grind culture has many leaders believing that their value is measured by their workload and accomplishments.
Read article →How to Get Off the Hamster Wheel and Into High Performance
How Busy Managers Can Become Effective Leaders
Read article →How to Stop Drowning in Your Task List and Start Leading
Do you ever feel yourself buried under an avalanche of tasks? Your to-do list shocks you with its ever-growing length.
Read article →Why Your Management Toolkit Is Not Enough When Things Get Complex
Imagine a world where every leadership challenge has a clear solution, a world where a well-stocked toolbox guarantees success.
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How to Get Out of the Detail and Back Into Strategic Work
You promoted your best operators into management because they get things done. Now they are buried in the detail and the strategic work you
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Why the Same Approach Will Keep Producing the Same Bottleneck
Ever catch yourself saying, “If I can just get through this week… this month… this quarter, things will calm down”? It’s a familiar refrain
Read article →Podcasts and media on delegation skills
PodcastThe High Performance Leader
How managers break the cycle of overwhelm and burnout
Struggling with overwhelm as a manager? Discover proven strategies to break the burnout cycle and lead your team to high performance. Listen
Listen to episode →PodcastThe High Performance Leader
How managers use data to stop decision bottlenecks
Managers struggle with constant decision overload. Learn how to use data and automation to empower your team and boost performance in this e
Listen to episode →PodcastThe High Performance Leader
How managers prioritise when every task feels urgent
Struggling to prioritise urgent tasks as a manager? Learn how to regain control, delegate effectively and boost team impact in this episode.
Listen to episode →Guest appearanceThe Business Emergency Room Podcast
Rowing Through Treacle: When Friction Becomes the Culture
Jimmy joins crisis strategist Maartje van Krieken to challenge a core assumption in leadership development: that capable managers who seem s
Listen to appearance →Guest appearanceTripoint Conversations
How to Simplify Leadership and Amplify Performance
Jimmy joins Kristina Lowe on Tripoint Conversations to challenge the instinct to fix a struggling team by adding something, another programm
Listen to appearance →Guest appearanceThe Positive Polarity Podcast
From Overwhelmed To Empowered: Practical Burnout Recovery Tips
Join Dave Molenda this week as he talks to Jimmy Burroughes about burnout. In this episode, Jimmy discusses the signs of burnout and the cri
Listen to appearance →Questions leaders ask about delegation skills
How do I stop being the bottleneck in my team?
Map the decisions that currently need you and hand back the ones that sit below your level with clear authority attached. You become the bottleneck when people have to check with you, so remove that need decision by decision.
How do I delegate without losing control of the outcome?
Delegate the outcome and the boundaries, not the exact method, then agree checkpoints so you stay informed without taking over. Control comes from clarity on what good looks like, not from doing it yourself.
Why is it so hard to delegate as a manager?
Because it often feels faster to do it yourself and safer to keep control, but that thinking traps you in the work. Delegation is an investment that costs time now and returns capacity later.
What is the difference between delegating tasks and delegating outcomes?
Delegating a task hands over a to do item, while delegating an outcome hands over the responsibility for a result and the judgement that goes with it. Outcome delegation builds leaders, task delegation just moves work around.
How do I delegate to someone I do not fully trust yet?
Start with a well defined piece of work, agree clear checkpoints, and increase the scope as they prove themselves. Trust is built through delegation done in the right sized steps, not withheld until it magically appears.
Explore More Topics
Team Performance (79)Culture Change (46)For Senior Leaders (41)Communication (38)Employee Retention (37)Remote Leadership (36)Work-Life Balance (33)Coaching Skills (30)Building Trust (27)Decision Making (25)Accountability (25)Having Hard Conversations (22)Leadership (19)Change Management (11)For New Managers (8)Emotional Intelligence (8)Dealing with Burnout (5)Management (4)For HR Leaders (4)Gen Z Workforce (4)Running Better Meetings (3)Managing Difficult People (3)
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