Almost every company I see where the CEO is too busy suffers from at least one of 3 key criteria not being in place.
Missing any of them means that the CEO gets involved in too many decisions, often at FAR too micro a level.
- (For involved, read “making the decision” or, more commonly, “overturning other people’s / or their own previous decision”!)
Don’t get me wrong – there’s a lot of sound advice about how the CEO needs to be the ultimate decision-maker. I’m sure I’ve given it more than once. But it’s actually not quite as simple as that.
The biggest decisions do (and should) go to those who have the highest accountability.
Namely you as CEO.
But that really should be ONLY the biggest decisions.
The most effective organisations delegate decision-making as low down as is possible.
And that level, in turn, is in direct proportion to three criteria:
- Have you created a framework within which your team can make decisions? Specifically, is there clarity on your overall purpose and goals as well as their own goals; and is there clarity on the company’s values and what is acceptable behaviour or not? The best antidote to micromanagement is clarity.
- Have you chosen the right people for the right roles? This includes that they’re armed with an adequate level of knowledge and/or training AND that they are proactive and resourceful enough as individuals to make wise decisions (see point 1 above!) when they don’t have all the facts to hand.
- Do you trust them enough to allow them to do what you’re paying them to do? This includes that YOU need to be trusting enough and that THEY need to be trustworthy enough. It also means that you haven’t created an environment where they’ll be fearful of making decisions.
That means you really are left as the CEO with the very biggest decisions – ideally informed by your team and arrived at with them, but with you ultimately being responsible and accountable for them.
So if you find you’re diving in too much, that you’re overwhelmed, look at those 3 criteria and see whether hand on heart you have them in place.
If not – fix it. Your team and your health and sanity will thank you for it.
How's 2023 started for you? Is strategy consistently being executed? Are you not having to firefight or get involved in more deals than you should? We're looking for a group of 5 CEOs (10 to 100 employees) to join us on this workshop to talk through how to make your strategy, purpose and values happen. Join us.