Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, February 3, 2025
by Neil Senturia
This column gives entrepreneurial advice — or at least it pretends to — and sometimes the writer needs to take a dose of his own medicine. Bring me the spoon and a scotch chaser.
The doctor in question is Lauren Landry, associate professor at Harvard. She says that the disease CEOs are often afflicted with is diagnosed as “What you have here is not a failure to communicate, it is a failure to delegate.”
Delegation is defined as the transfer of responsibility for specific tasks from one person to another. This is particularly important when the person doing the delegating has absolutely no idea nor any skill in said task, and so they should be bloody grateful that someone more talented and more skilled will take it on.
Failure to delegate can be a lethal virus, and CEOs who catch this virus can have a very much shortened career. They pay lip service to the diagnosis, and then they stick their nose in — often after all the work has been done.
So, the ambulance arrives at the hospital and I am rushed into surgery. My little artificial intelligence company team wants to do a branding exercise as we enter the new year. They feel we need a new logo, a new marketing package, a re-definition of target verticals, a mission statement and of course a polo shirt.
On each of those above items, I have limited to zero skills. The team offers me a chance to give my input, but by then the anesthesia has kicked in and I politely pass out, while mumbling something about having to trust the team.
The desire to micro-manage, especially in areas where you are clueless, is hard to kill. No drugs (at least none currently licensed by the FDA) will cure it quickly. Maybe some psilocybin from Tijuana, but AI mixed with hallucinations is a dangerous brew.
Herewith Landry’s rules for successful delegating:
1. “Know what to delegate”. (If I knew that, I would do it myself.)
2. “Play to your employee’s strengths and goals.” (Gym memberships?)
3. “Define the desired outcome.” (Revenue, what else is there?)
4. “Provide the right resources and level of authority,” (After each step, come and see me.)
5. “Establish a clear communication channel.” (Sure, everybody and everything reports to and depends on the CEO. This includes the Friday lunch menu).
6. “Allow for Failure.” (Easy for you to say. But in the final analysis, I always turn to Bob Dylan, “Love Minus Zero.” “She knows there’s no success like failure, and that failure’s no success at all.)”
7. “Be patient.” (There is clearly a misprint here. What start-up-founder recipe includes that ingredient? If I were baking a cake and wanted to get it done faster, why not turn the oven up to 850 degrees.)
8. “Deliver (and ask for) feedback.” (This is sometimes translated as “When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.)”
9. “Give credit where it’s due.” (The great CEOs take credit whenever they can — unless it is a disaster and then it is always someone else’s fault.)
The start-up racket is a hard one. I recently saw an old “Shark Tank” where Mark Cuban really laced into a young man, telling him to stop whining, that there are no awards for participation and actually bringing him to tears.
Here is a tidbit to make your week and remind you of the courage the entrepreneur needs. Natasha Mascarenhas, The Information, offered this:
“At least 966 companies tracked by Carta, which manages venture capital firms’ investments, shut down or went bankrupt in 2024, up 26% from the prior year.”
So I take the red pill and I give it up. When I see the final presentation, my initial instinct is to throw the challenge flag. Are you serious? But there is no booth review, the ruling on the field stands.
Now here is the best part about delegating. It is healthy to admit when you are wrong. It cleanses the soul, empowers your team and reminds you that those three letters (CEO) do not come with a guarantee against arrogance or stupidity.
And, oh, by the way, the results of the team’s work were critical in the successful closing of our most recent round.
Eh, what’s up doc?
Rule No. 838: “Do your job,” Bill Belichick