How She Learned to Delegate

Learning to delegate was especially challenging because the work is so personal both as an entrepreneur and as a partner in an NGO supporting survivors of human trafficking and abuse. But I learned that trusting capable people with meaningful responsibilities did not weaken our mission; it strengthened our ability to reach, support, and protect more people.

I spent years believing that if I wanted something done right, I had to do it myself. Leadership taught me otherwise: delegation is not losing control, it is building capable people, protecting the mission, and making sure success does not depend on one exhausted person holding everything together.

As a university professor with wonderful, highly motivated students, I learned to delegate tasks to them. They were more than happy to help, especially when their contributions could be placed on their resumes for letters of recommendation to graduate school. I'm surrounded by support and very blessed!

I used to think being a good leader meant having all the answers and handling every task myself. Learning to delegate taught me that real growth happens when you empower others to take ownership and succeed.

Giving people individual tasks or small parts of an event/project to oversee not only makes them feel included but also creates buy-in. By being in charge of a piece of the event/project, there is a sense of ownership over the success of the event/project. And most people genuinely want to help and feel included!