Here are the three key reasons leaders fail to delegate along with actionable strategies to overcome these obstacles. Discover essential leadership tips for handling no-fail missions, ensuring success when the stakes are high, and learn how clear communication can prevent resistance when making tough decisions. Plus, find out how to create effective workplace policies that engage employees and build a strong organizational culture.

Telling people what you want them to do is important. Telling them why you want them to do it is essential. I find many leaders miss this when crafting and delivering their intent to others. “Jack, I’d like you to install cameras in the warehouse entrance and loading dock.” Jack, the dutiful employee will indeed take on this task but if he fails to understand why, he may not meet your intent.

I was an aide to a U.S. Army General years ago. We traveled quite a bit meeting with other Army senior leaders and visiting soldiers. At one particular base we frequented, there was an older man, Mr. Wallace who worked the front desk at the military guest house. I never knew his first name. He had a plastic gold plate at the counter with, “Mr. Wallace” engraved on it. He was there in the quiet, late evening darkness every time we arrived.

Talk is cheap. “I’m on it!” “Got it boss!” ‘Thumbs up’ emoji. How often have you heard or seen these things but not the follow up? Daily, in organizations, people – leaders and subordinates alike spout these phrases or send symbols which indicate they will act on what is being asked of them. Not all of them follow up. Phrases and symbols such as these are easy to say or send. Give the boss a thumbs up but forget or ignore what you’ve been asked to do, and you may get away with it.

My first experience with a hurricane was the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005. I was a U.S. Army Major serving in the famed 82nd Airborne Division and part of a response force to rescue people, restore order, and assist in recovery. I’ll never forget entering the city for the first time, days after the storm in a military vehicle near midnight. New Orleans, a city of nearly 500,000 people with skyscrapers, parking decks, and a giant football stadium was eerily lifeless - dark and vacant. Sunrise the following morning would expose a city landscape of despair and destruction. I was humbled by the power of nature and saddened by the loss of life.

I’m thinking of everyone affected by Hurricane Helene as I type this. This storm really packed a punch, and its full effects are yet to be felt as the storm travels inland. Times like this call for leadership. For a comprehensive collection of my thoughts and experience with crises, pick up a copy of my book, “Left and Right of the Boom. The Art of Leadership, Before During and After Crisis.” When crisis visits us, whether before it, during it, or after it, people look upward toward leadership. Whether it is the local and federal government, or the boss at work, times like this call for leadership. Here are my thoughts as I watch Helene do her thing.