If a leader is “doing it all”, then it is likely not being done well.

You may have heard of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). In leaders I often see FOLG (Fear of Letting Go). They try and hold on to too much. It’s a big mistake that will hamper the growth of an organization.

In smaller companies I have seen CEOs/owners trying to manage operations, accounting, and even social media posts. In larger companies I have seen CEOs try and run the company AND run sales.

It usually doesn’t work. And, even if it does, not for very long.

In addition to potential poor outcomes, there are other significant downsides:

  • Company value is limited. (People will generally want to pay less for a company in which the best salesperson is the CEO.)
  • Capable people leave. (Top people want to take on challenging work and may leave to find it.)
  • The leader gets stressed out and irritable. (Paradoxically, they start to resent that they are taking on too much.)

Leaders have some choices:

Delegate. Yes there are likely people in your organization who can and would love to step up.

Hire. Find that operations person or admin help that can help you take action on your vision or keep you organized. You will never miss the money you spend on that salary.

Outsource. There are a million excellent service providers for everything from marketing to payroll. These providers can likely do what you are doing, but just better and faster.

Empower. Give your team the power to make decisions that will impact the nature and quality of their own work.

Leaders CAN take on a lot, but not everything they take on will be done well. Don’t be scared to take steps to organize yourself and your team so that you can do what really adds value to your organization.