Don't Be a Bottleneck

A simple thing I do that helps me be a more effective CEO is try not to be a bottleneck.

It's very easy for a CEO to become a bottleneck. You want to be involved. Feel responsible for everything. Help out. Pick up the things that aren't in someone else's responsibilities. But then people rely on you for things to move forward. And when the organization grows, you have to do more. And when you can't keep up, everything slows down and you burn out.

This is no fun and no way to build an organization that moves fast.

Instead, I ask myself: Am I a bottleneck anywhere? If so, there are two options:

1. I can do the thing to unblock others.
2. I can extract myself from the process. Let someone else take over.

Almost always, extracting myself from the process is better. It frees up bandwidth for me and accelerates decision making. It means I can focus where I really need to be involved. And I can do those things faster and better.