You've probably come to the conclusion that your company's next level of performance necessitates a managerial shift. And, ideally, you've learned that the essential changes are within your grasp. As CEO (or senior executive on a divisional or departmental level), you are responsible for setting the vision, inspiring your senior management and staff, and cultivating critical relationships with customers, vendors, investors, and the general public, among other things.
You must now let go of some of your favourite tasks, such as product design, hiring, and possibly day-to-day sales - many of which you did in the past, often out of necessity - and concentrate on your role as CEO. What about all the activities you used to engage in? Delegate responsibility for them. Assign the job to another person. Why write an entire article about something that doesn't seem important?
Do you distribute tasks to others? You do, of course. Do you, however, allocate the most crucial tasks? What are some of the things you "know" you could be doing better? What are your "strong suits"? Most likely not. The question is whether you should.
Your most important contribution
Consider your most valuable contribution to the firm. Which of your operations brings in the greatest money, profit, market share, and so forth? What are the best places to get the most bang for your buck? Your greatest leverage, like that of most top executives, is in mobilizing the forces around you: your senior staff and employees, as well as significant customers, prospects, and vendors. In terms of impact, everything else fades into the background.
You've discovered something unusual: there isn't enough time left in the day. Of course, the corollary is that your list of important things to do never gets shorter. The CEO's to-do list in any company has the potential to grow indefinitely.
So, what does a senior executive do?
This isn't just a personal issue. What you do next will determine the future of your organization. As you push your company through its current stumbling block, you must alter your attitude about your work. The shift from chief chef and bottle washer (CC&BW) to CEO is divided into three stages (source of the management and direction of the business). They are as follows:
* Recognizing and focusing on your highest-value contribution to your firm.
* Accepting your role as a leader and taking responsibility for it.
* Everything else is delegated, and others are held accountable.
Transition one is covered in the previous post, Time Well Spent, while transition two is covered in the article Visions of Leadership. This article looks at the issue of delegation or handing up responsibility.
The Problem
As a result, the answer is yes. Even the things you're "best" at should be given away. Then double-check that everything is in order. Ascertain that they are accurate and delivered on schedule.
The price of staying put
Now comes the tricky part. Many leaders refuse to delegate "essential" responsibilities to others. They are concerned that the job will not be completed correctly. Or no one else can do it as rapidly as you can, and you won't be able to do it on time. Alternatively, the appropriate attention will not be paid. Or something like that. Or something else entirely.
Let it go! The extent to which you cling on to important functions will limit the growth of your company. Your business will suffer in the areas where you believe you are the expert!
What is product design? You are the expert, but you are gone at a customer meeting, thus you are delaying the creation of a vital component. Staffing? Because you haven't signed off and are out of town meeting with investment bankers, two engineers can't be hired. Sales? Because you're in Asia meeting with a vendor, negotiations on a major agreement are stalled.
Each of these important activities becomes clogged as a result of your actions. And, of course, you feel compelled to participate. You don't have it. Your company's growth will be slowed to the extent that you have not trained your employees to perform these tasks.
Apart from the fear that the job would not be done as well, there is another, more nefarious reason why senior executives (especially entrepreneurs) refuse to delegate. You become redundant if you don't do the "essential" things. I'm dead weight. Overhead. What will you do if you have a fantastic VP of Sales or a Chief Technologist?
You're feeling this way because you haven't finished transitions one and two: you haven't spent the time to figure out how you personally add value to your organization, and you haven't fully assumed the job of a leader. You won't have time for the rest once you've completed these transitions. Not abdication, but delegation.
This is how many executives delegate. They claim, "Would you be interested in taking on this project, John? It must be completed by the following Thursday. Thanks." That is all there is to it. They become enraged when the job is returned incomplete. What went wrong? They didn't mention accountability. They didn't pay attention to the structure that was supposed to ensure that everything went as planned.
Delegation success is comprised of five elements.
1. Assign the task to someone who is capable of completing it.
This does not imply that the individual possesses all of the necessary talents for execution, but rather that they are capable of marshalling the necessary resources. Education is sometimes the initial step in a project. To come up to speed, your delegate may need to attend a seminar or take a course.
2. Clearly communicate the terms of satisfaction.
Timeframes, outcomes, budget limits, and so forth must all be stated. Anything less is a recipe for disaster. It's like the classic basketball myth about players not knowing where to shoot the ball if there are no nets.
3. Make a strategy.
The creation of a plan may be the initial phase, depending on the project's complexity. Resources, techniques or methodology, timetables, metrics, and milestones should all be included in the plan. Even simple initiatives necessitate a strategy.
4. Create an accountability system.
Schedule an interim meeting two weeks from now if the project will take place over the next six weeks. Set up a weekly conference call or an e-mailed status report, for example. Provide a way for you to assess progress and make mid-course corrections together. This aids in keeping the project and its participants on track.
5. Obtain buy-in.
External circumstances frequently define timescales. Even so, your delegate must sign on for the job. They must agree that it is possible if you say, "This must be completed by next Tuesday." Instead, make a request. "Can this be delivered by Tuesday?" This may appear to be a little step to you, yet it is frequently forgotten. If at all possible, have your delegate draft the timeline and plan. All you have to do now is provide direction and sign off. General Patton said it best when he remarked, "Never instruct others on how to perform tasks. Tell them what to do, and their creativity will astound you."
If you skip any of the above procedures, the chances of things turning out the way you want them to are drastically reduced. On the other hand, if you meticulously follow the instructions, you considerably improve your chances of winning. You could wonder if this isn't more work than doing it yourself. No, it's not.
The time it takes to complete a task
1) set goals, 2) review the strategy, and 3) keep track of progress
The time it takes to execute is not equal to the time it takes to execute. That's how you get some clout. This is how your efforts are multiplied.
(Occasionally, communicating something takes longer than doing it yourself.) In any case, delegate it. It'll be a lot easier the next time.)
I mentioned projects earlier. This isn't to argue that delegation is only for specific tasks and issues. You also distribute continuing responsibilities. In each scenario, the procedure is the same.
Ask yourself, "What am I unwilling to delegate?" as an exercise. Make a list of all the reasons why you shouldn't. Determine who, not you, is the ideal individual in your organization to take on this project or function. After that, call a meeting. Begin the meeting with the first step.
If there is no one to whom you can delegate key functions, you must examine your staffing situation carefully. It's possible that now is the moment to hire the proper personnel. Consider what is limiting your expansion if you don't have the income to support the new hires.
Examine your working connection with your secretary or assistance. Have you given them a fair share of the responsibilities? Are you assigning them work that is sufficiently challenging? Is it time for them to upgrade?
Some scenarios necessitate a return to the water. Perhaps you are the only person in your organization who has a specific technical skill, or your insight can help speed up the design process, or you have a long-standing relationship with a vendor or customer. Go ahead and take a plunge. Do your thing - finish the project quickly and return to your leadership position.
Oh, and there's one more thing.
Delegating something only makes sense if it frees you up to do activities that add more value to your firm. If you're spending your time fiddling with the company website, don't give away the hiring function. If you're spending your time on purchasing, don't recruit a Sales Vice President. You have the most power as a leader of your firm. Spend as much time as you want on it.