The other benefits of delegation are that it increases the initiative of the assistant coaches in the program, because it gives them a chance to grow and accustom themselves to succeeding.

If delegation is so important to a coach's success, why do some coaches fail to delegate effectively? Why do they prevent themselves from becoming great coaches? There are many reasons:

Insecurity

Some coaches are afraid that if they are not in control of everything, it means they are not doing their job. They fear that others will criticize them for shirking their responsibility. The bottom line is they are afraid that they will lose their job.

Lack of Confidence in Your Assistants

Some coaches believe their assistant coaches are not competent enough to do the job, so they never delegate anything. They fail to realize that coaches grow into delegation by being given a chance to perform, making mistakes, and learning from them. To be successful, all head coaches must eventually take the crucial step of allowing others to take part of the load. Coaches will make mistakes in delegation, and assist coaches to whom they delegate will make mistakes. But that is when learning takes place.

Lack of Ability to Train Your Assistants

Successful delegators cannot simply dump tasks on their assistants without preparing them for the tasks. If they do, their assistants will fail and resent them. Instead, they must train their staff both before delegating and afterward when mistakes have been made. When head coaches learn to train their staff, they are better equipped to delegate.

Personal Enjoyment of the Assignment

It is difficult for people to give up assignments they love to perform. But sometimes giving up an enjoyable task is the best thing head coaches can do. The question head coaches must ask themselves is whether someone else can do the task. If so, it should probably be delegated. The head coach should focus on performing tasks no one else can do, not simply on doing tasks he or she enjoys.

Habit

Similar to enjoyment of a task is habit. Just because people master a task doesn't necessarily mean they should continue doing it. When a task becomes simple and straightforward, the head coach doing it should delegate it and move on to something more complex.

Inability to Find Someone Else to Do It

Mark Twain once said, "Never learn to do anything. If you don't learn, you will always find someone else to do it for you." Although he wasn't serious, there is a kernel of truth in his statement. That truth is you must always be looking for people to whom you can give tasks. The times that people will track you down to ask you for something to do will be rare. A head coach who can't find people to delegate to may not be looking hard enough.

Lack of Time

Not having enough time to teach another coach to do a job is probably the most common reason coaches do not delegate. And not delegating is probably the most common reason coaches don't have enough time. Inability to delegate due to lack of time is short-term thinking. Time lost in delegating on the front end is recovered at the back end.

"I Do it Best" Mind Set

Head coaches who believe that to have something done right they have to do it themselves will end up accomplishing very little. The greatest problem new coaches have in a head-coaching role is their reluctance to move from doing the job to managing the job. If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.

Take a Close Look at Yourself

If you recognize yourself in any of the descriptions above, you probably aren't doing enough delegating. If you begin to miss deadlines, and crises become increasingly frequent, these may also be indications that you need to delegate tasks. And be on the lookout for assistant coach under you who are ready to conquer new worlds - this is a prime time to delegate jobs to them.