A CEO of a $10m business runs very few meetings, lets the leadership team run the day to day, and works two to three quarters ahead of the business. The CEO of a $2m business trying to run $10m the old way does the opposite, and it shows.

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There is a wrong way and a right way, and I have done both.‍

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The wrong way, and the typical one‍

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Endless meetings. Rushing from emergency to emergency. You make the decision in every meeting, because you are in every meeting. Deeply involved in every part of the business. Emails at night. You cannot keep up. No time to think.

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You are out of control. The business is happening to you.‍

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The right way, and the rare one‍

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Very few meetings. Each one has a specific result, and it ends as soon as the result is achieved. I put them all on Monday: leadership team first, sixty to ninety minutes at the absolute most, same agenda every week, then the one-on-ones off the back of it. That leaves four days. The day to day is run by the executive team. You work on the business, not in it.

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You have regular, scheduled, big blocks for deep work and thinking. They go in the diary like a meeting with your biggest customer, and they do not move.

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You get out of the building. Customers, key partners, other CEOs. External stimulation is where the next move usually comes from.

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You operate two to three quarters ahead of the business. You are out clearing the forest so the team can come through as fast as possible.

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You are in control. You are happening to the business.‍

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Which path leads to the bigger outcome?‍

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Nobody picks the first one on purpose. It is what happens when a $2m founder keeps growing without redesigning, because the engine that got you to $2m is the engine that caps you.

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The second path is a design decision. Fewer decisions through you. One name against every job. A scoreboard the team can read without you in the room.‍

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The one thing to do this week‍

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Print last week's calendar. Mark every block: only I could have done this, or somebody else could have. Most founders find the second pile is more than half. That pile is the work to hand over first.

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If you want to redesign the week with someone who has sat in the chair, book a Strategy Session.

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