Delegation, Respect, and the Evolution of a Leader
Yo. Hope this message finds you well on a beautiful Thursday morning in the Finger Lakes area of Upstate NY.
We’re coming down the homestretch of our weekly servant leadership course, and last week we unpacked four of the eight principles of agape love that truly shape servant leadership.
Today, I want to zoom in on one of the most transformative: Respect.
Respect: What It Really Means
One of the ways we define respect in our organization is simple but powerful:
Treating others as important people—because they are.
Now listen—I don’t subscribe to the idea that respect has to be earned. I believe respect should be given until it’s no longer earned. (We can unpack that another time.)
Today, I want to highlight one of the best ways to show respect to your team:
Delegating authority.
That means you train people well, you give them ownership, and then you get out of their way. No micromanaging. No babysitting. Instead, provide them with clarity to understand what success looks like, celebrate the wins, and coach them through the missteps.
Let me share a story—a leadership evolution from my own life—that shows how this plays out. It has to do with the celebration of Administrative Professionals Day.
Rewind: 15 Years Ago
Office Manager: “Hey Jason, Administrative Professionals Day is coming up. We should get something for our amazing admin team.”
Me: “Sounds like a great idea. I’ll take care of it.”
Why did I say that? Simple: I thought if something needed to be done right, I had to do it myself.
Classic mindset of the perfectionist micromanager:
- “No one can do it as well as I can.”
- “It has to be perfect.”
- “Let me handle it.”
What was really happening? My ego was in the driver’s seat. I couldn’t yet see how much I was limiting my team—and myself.
Rewind: 10 Years Ago
Office Manager: “Hey Jason, Administrative Professionals Day is coming up. We should get something for our amazing admin team.”
Me: “That sounds good. Why don’t you put some ideas together, and I’ll take a look?”
Better. Progress. I was learning to delegate, but still had my hands all over it.
I’d review their suggestions, then spend hours online hunting for coupon codes or “better” options on Custom Ink.
In hindsight? A ridiculous use of my time. I wasn’t quite ready to let go, even though I said I was. I knew actions speak louder than words, but I wasn’t practicing that.
Now: Present Day
I woke up Monday morning to Slack photos celebrating our admin team this week. The gifts were creative, thoughtful, personalized—and a total surprise to me.
My first thought? Frustration. “Why didn’t anyone tell me this was coming?”
But then came the better thought: “Wait. This is exactly what we’ve been working toward.”
My team didn’t need me. They knew the budget, understood what “winning” looked like, and executed—flawlessly. That’s what happens when you give clear boundaries, extend the rope (Dave Ramsey fans, you know), and trust your people.
The Full Cycle of Delegation and Trust
Here’s the truth: this didn’t happen overnight. It’s the product of years of practicing, failing, and improving.
But if you:
- Delegate with clarity,
- Celebrate when your team wins, and
- Coach when things go sideways
You’ll eventually build a team that manages enormous responsibility—without you needing to hover.
And here’s the real power in that:
- You get to focus on your unique ability—the things only you can do.
- Your team is empowered to thrive without being micromanaged—one of the most basic human needs in Maslow’s hierarchy (Level 3 and 4 stuff!).
So Let Me Ask You This:
- Are you still micromanaging?
- Or are you empowering?
- Are you practicing respect as a servant leader?
Because one of the highest forms of respect you can give your team is to trust them with meaningful responsibility.
Thanks for walking through this with me—if this resonates with you or sparks a thought, I’d love to hear about it.
Let’s keep growing together.
With tons of agape love,
Jason
