This article on leadership is an open-letter from John Moore, who shares his experiences with being a leader – and includes five steps to solving a challenge as a team.

Moore says “Every Lieutenant the Army commissions faces the same daunting experience at the start of their professional lives as a leader…the moment they meet the first group of soldiers they will lead.

I believed that leading was all about me and how I exercised command. I thought that the success or failure of the team was going to be a result of my competence and leadership. At that moment I realised that success is a shared responsibility, if the leader chooses to share it. This remains the most important leadership lesson of my life.

Over time I also learned that a leader can only share responsibility if they have mastered the art of delegation. By being masters at delegating they build strong leaders, create a culture characterised by excellence, and they leave themselves free to focus on what is most essential.”

This is a framework for leading through effective and purposeful delegation.

• Stay calm and remain in control
• Break it down
• Assign responsibility
• Hold them accountable
• Keep talking and keep listening

Final comment

If a leader is doing it all, then you don’t have the time to do your job properly and the entire organisation suffers. Trust subsides, discretionary effort dissolves, and so might the business.