Teams that Delegate Must Also Escalate

Delegation is often practiced. Escalation is not practiced enough.

Why do we delegate?

• To realign work to the person best suited to complete it.
• To create time and space to focus on what matters most.
• Because a well-working team accomplishes more than any one “hero.”

For these same reasons, every team needs a clear escalation strategy.

Delegation defines when work should move down the chain. Escalation defines when it must move up the chain.

It’s not just for big issues like an angry customer or a complex problem. It’s also for when someone doesn’t have enough time to meet a deadline or hits a roadblock they can’t solve alone.

Too often, that flag gets waved too late. Pride gets in the way. Or maybe you’ve unintentionally built a culture where asking for help feels like failure.

But when help comes after a deadline is missed or a problem has ballooned, it’s too late.

When I lead teams, my mandate is simple: work must be completed on time and to standard. If something threatens that, I expect it to be raised early so we can solve it together.

A clear escalation policy makes that possible. It doesn’t mean passing the buck. It means ensuring work gets done well.

And what something truly goes wrong, that’s when we practice my #1 leadership philosophy: blame the system first.

So if you delegate, make sure you also set a standard for escalation. That’s how you build operational excellence. And that’s what servant leadership really looks like.

How does your team handle escalation? Have you ever been guilty of delegating down and never escalating up?