The Leadership Lesson Hidden in a Missed Cat Pill

Last week my husband and I were away for work, and our 17-year-old was in charge at home. Her main job? Feeding our beloved ragdoll cat, Chai, and making sure he took his daily anti-anxiety medication.

I wrote out clear instructions including what time to give the medication and how to give it to him. Everything she needed to do.

Or so I thought.

When I got home the next day, I was greeted by a slightly harangued-looking daughter and a rather frazzled cat. Sienna explained that she’d missed one of Chai’s pills because she “couldn’t find him anywhere”.

And in that moment, it dawned on me that I’d forgotten one crucial step in delegating this task:

I hadn’t given her the context.

I hadn’t explained why the medicine mattered so much, or that missing a dose could send Chai into a full-blown cat freak out spiral. And I hadn’t explained what to do if she couldn’t find him. When I told her what happens if he misses a pill, she looked horrified.

“Mum! If you’d told me all that, I would have searched the whole house for him. I didn’t realise how important it was.”

And there it was. A leadership lesson courtesy of a nervous ragdoll.

Because the same thing happens in organisations all the time. Leaders delegate tasks, explaining what needs to be done, but they forget to explain why it matters. They know it, but they wrongly assume that others will know the why too. Yet, when people don’t understand the context, they naturally prioritise things differently.

What happens when leaders delegate without context?

When people are given tasks without getting the bigger picture

• They might treat the work as low priority.
• They make decisions without understanding the consequences.
• They don’t know how to adapt if something unexpected happens.
• They struggle to see how their work contributes to the bigger goal.

In other words, they do exactly what my daughter did! They follow the instructions as best they can, but lack the information needed to make good judgement calls.

So how do you avoid this delegation mistake?

The most important thing when delegating work, is that you don’t just explain the task. You also need to explain the context around the task.

Here are four simple ways to do that:

1. Start with the “why”

Before explaining the task, tell them why doing this thing matters. What problem does it solve? What impact will it have if it’s done well (or poorly?) People prioritise differently when they understand the stakes.

2. Connect the work to the bigger goal

Help people see how their task contributes to the team’s wider goals and success. When people understand how their work fits into the bigger picture, their motivation and ownership increase.

3. Explain the consequences

Not in a threatening way, we don’t want a “do this or else!” vibe. But if I had told Sienna what would happen to Chai if he missed a pill (obvious now, I know) we wouldn’t have had the anxious cat drama we did.  So, explain:

• What happens if this task doesn’t get done?
• What happens if it’s delayed or missed?

This helps people make better decisions when things don’t go to plan.

4. Give guidance for the “what if…” moments

Things rarely unfold perfectly. So, when delegating, also ask some coaching questions and discuss what they should do if they encounter a problem or obstacle. This gives people the confidence to act rather than freeze.

In the end, poor Chai was a little stressed for a day or two, my daughter felt guilty and I felt slightly foolish for missing such an obvious step in delegating. Everyone’s OK now, so we’re able to appreciate the fact that our anxious ragdoll provided a timely reminder of an important leadership principle:

Delegation isn’t just about telling people what to do.

It’s about giving them the context they need to do it well.

And if nothing else, it gave me good fodder for this week’s article on The Leader’s Digest!