Situation: A company has grown largely through the determination and energy of the founding CEO who is still the principal business development resource. The CEO wants to move from day-to-day focus to a leadership role, planning for the future. How have you evolved from principal doer to leader?

Advice from the CEOs:

• Start by developing and managing an organizational chart for the business.
  • Create the organizational chart initially by role and responsibility.
  • Match existing people to the roles. Individuals may fill more than one role, but be sure that the individuals are suited to the roles to which they are assigned.
• Give ownership of areas of responsibility to others.
  • Make it clear for each area of responsibility that the individual assigned is now in charge.
  • Match projects or assignments with individuals’ abilities and available time.
  • Establish quarterly or annual performance objectives WITH as opposed to FOR each individual – objectives that support company objectives.
  • See that people are rewarded for their results – both soft and monetary rewards – as appropriate to the responsibility held by each.
• While you continue as the lead of business development, hand off new clients to others as soon as you get them on-board. Let others take on the customer nurturing and maintenance roles. Establish a plan to replace yourself in this role.
• The EMyth Revisited by Michael Gerber provides a soup to nuts recipe for moving from doer to leader of a company. Everything starts with your organizational chart.

Key Words: Leader, Doer, Role, Focus, Organizational Chart, Org Chart, People, Match, Ownership, Responsibility, Performance, Objectives, Reward, Results, EMyth, Gerber

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