The absence of one leadership practice more than any other causes companies to get stuck as they try to grow profitability, and that is delegation. I don’t know what #2 is, but it is so far behind delegation that it doesn’t even make the radar screen. The interesting thing is that a leader doesn’t have to be born with this skill, it just takes a process and practice to get really good at it!
Delegation must be a CEO priority
A CEO’s primary job is to think about the direction of the company, develop and maintain his leadership team, remove obstacles and provide resources. It isn’t doing things that should be done by subordinates!
Part of developing subordinates means giving them assignments that help them learn and grow within boundaries that don’t put them or the company at risk. Delegation often feels like a loss of control because it isn’t approached as just another business process that has certain steps to be followed.
In companies where delegation is not a high priority, often executives become “blockers” who cause logjams for others getting things done. And at the same time, the next level of managers are not being prepared for greater responsibility.
CEOs and executives who learn to delegate not only get more important work done, they develop their people at the same time. For more information: