To truly master delegating you have to be attached only to the outcome and not to how it is accomplished. I remember in grade school getting extra points if I showed my calculations, and while necessary in accounting and record keeping, in most of life it isn’t how you get there, but that you get there. Whenever I’ve hired design assistance, I show them my way and then explain that if they have a better way or way they prefer that is fine, as long as they get the desired result.
With contractors it goes a step further. I am not the expert in what they do, they are. I trust my contractors to get the job done successfully and I don’t stand over their shoulder while they are doing it. I recently had 9 windows replaced (yahoo! I finally did it) and trusted Plymart to get the job done. In both installations (doors and windows) I left a key and was gone during the installation. I arrived home to find my house newly sealed up with the perfect window as ordered and reduced HVAC bills (my old ones were single pane and leaking!)
I do the same thing with installations of furniture. While typically I am on site, I have found that if I watch every move, it only adds to everyone’s stress and in the event of a challenge all will be made right. I had a client once that during an installation of bedroom furniture being moved upstairs with three strong guys, she cursed them every step of the way. I was mortified having never experienced this grossly unprofessional, unnecessary, and horribly rude behavior ever before. It didn’t make things go faster, and really left a bad taste all the way around (I let the client go a bit later in the project.)
Guide and direct is my motto and mantra, leave the dictatorships to the politicos!