The "Not Ready" trap: Why your team will never be ready (until you let them try)
The Challenge
"I want to delegate more, but honestly, my team just isn't ready for additional responsibility. They're still learning their current roles, and I don't want to set them up for failure."
In other words, how do I know when they're ready for me to delegate more?
The "Not Ready" Trap
"Not ready" is code for "Not ready to let go"
I hear this from leaders all the time. It sounds caring and protective. But after working with hundreds of leaders, I've discovered something important:
This usually isn't about your team not being ready. It's about you not being ready to let go.
Here's what I see happen over and over:
You think your team isn't ready for more responsibility
So, you don't give them new challenges
Because they don't get new challenges, they don't grow
Because they don't grow, you think you were right that they weren't ready
It becomes a cycle that keeps everyone stuck in the same place.
But here's what most leaders miss: people often become ready BY taking on new responsibilities, not before taking them on.
What Does "Ready" Actually Mean?
When you say someone isn't ready for more responsibility, what are you really measuring?
Are you thinking about:
How well they handle their current job?
Whether they feel confident about new challenges?
Whether YOU feel confident in their abilities?
What happens if they make mistakes?
Most leaders mix all these things together. That creates an impossibly high bar that keeps delegation off the table forever.
Try this reframe: Instead of asking "Are they ready?" ask "How can I set them up for success?"
Readiness vs. Preparation
There's a big difference between these two ideas:
Readiness sounds like something fixed—either they have it or they don't. Preparation sounds like a process—something you can actively help with.
This changes how you think about delegation:
Instead of: "They don't have enough experience"
Try: "What experience would help them succeed, and how can this opportunity provide it?"
Instead of: "They might make mistakes"
Try: "What mistakes would be good learning opportunities, and which ones need guardrails?"
Instead of: "I don't think they can handle it"
Try: "What support would help them handle this successfully?"
When you shift your perspective from readiness to preparation, it opens up more possibilities for your team.
The Solution: Start Small, Build Steady
Instead of waiting for some magical moment when they're "ready," try building responsibility gradually:
Start Small
Give them ownership of something contained where mistakes won't cause major problems, and learning is the main goal. Treat it like a sandbox, where it's safe to play, experiment, and learn.
Include Them in Decisions
Let them participate in choices they don't currently make. Show them how you think before asking for their input. Some of the best learning comes from you sharing your business-thinking mindset to make decisions. The more you can grow someone's business acumen, the better prepared your team will be to handle more in the future.
Create Learning Opportunities
Ask them to research something new and teach it back to the team—low risk, high development value. Use this newly learned thing as a springboard into the next step of this person's growth: "Now that you understand this thing, I want you to start doing it here."
Build on Success
Stack small wins to build both their confidence and your confidence in their growing abilities. The compounding effect of small wins will allow for bigger and more impactful delegation down the road. The only way to stack wins is to start creating opportunities to win now. As the adage goes, the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time!
The Truth About Helping Your Team
Here's the reality: You're not helping your team by keeping them in roles they've outgrown.
The kindest thing you can do is give them opportunities to surprise both of you. Most people can handle way more than we think they can—but they'll never know if we don't give them the chance.
Questions for Reflection
Take a moment to honestly assess your current situation:
Who on your team might be ready for more than you're currently giving them?
What small delegation experiment could you try this week?
How might your own confidence be affecting your assessment of their readiness?
What would change if you viewed delegation as development rather than just task distribution?
Remember: The best way to find out if someone is ready is to give them something meaningful to be ready for.
Ready to Break the "Not Ready" Cycle?
What's your delegation challenge? I'd love to hear about a specific situation where you're questioning readiness. Contact me to discuss how you can start building your team's capabilities through strategic delegation opportunities.