Women in charge: delegation

While there are certainly many exceptions on both sides of the ledger, it can nevertheless be reasonably argued that, generally, women managers have some distinct natural advantages as effective delegators compared to men. The reason is that women have a tendency to be more focused on the future results - the goal, freeing the delegatee to pursue it unencumbered by harassing micromanagement. Men all-too-frequently become mired in the organizational or procedural aspects of the delegation, confusing themselves and the delegatee about what is the actual purpose of the delegation. Similarly, men can sometimes mistakenly assume that their delegatees have the same appreciation of those organizational and procedural aspects, also leading to confusion.

This may be related to control - men typically are inclined to either maintain personal control over the delegation and the process, or, ironically, insufficient control. Women are more focused on the fundamental service to the organization provided by the delegation, and less on controlling every aspect of it or on self-aggrandizement. This is not to say that women are less ambitious or aggressive. Rather, these energies in women tend to surface on behalf of purposes greater than themselves, even if they do see their personal roles as important to those greater purposes.

Among the beneficial consequences of a naturally effective female delegator are that she frees herself to pursue her proper managerial - vice micromanagerial - duties, and the delegatee learns additional skills and develops greater potential - and loyalty - while pursing the delegation. Not to mention that the delegation is generally completed with greater overall organizational satisfaction at the cost of minimal organizational stress and anxiety.

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