Why do many CEOs have a hard time delegating? What does AI have to do with it?

Delegating tasks is part of the routine of executives in high leadership positions. It is a posture that contributes to the improvement of team competence and even helps keep employees motivated. However, for many to grant tasks and responsibilities for others to perform is still a great challenge. A Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2023 study, done with more than 1,400 executives in the United States, identified that three quarters of respondents have difficulty delegating.

For Rodrigo Magalhaes, partner at EXEC, many CEOs end up getting involved with operational issues for reasons that may include lack of confidence, courage and good doses of perfectionism. “ Trust is an important element when delegating tasks and has a strong connection with courage. To trust the other, he needs to have the audacity to transfer some of the decisions and actions to his direct and indirect team”.

For Magellan, delegating does not necessarily mean that the activity will not be supervised. “Even if the CEO demands a task, a function or activity, it will need to be monitored so that he can be inside what is happening”.

In addition, according to him, the difficulty in delegating can also be linked to the personal characteristics of the professional, such as being centralizing and perfectionist.

The difficulty in delegating can generate some negative impacts not only for the professional, but also for the company. Among the points highlighted by Rodrigo in this sense are the absence of long-term vision, lack of attention to what happens in the market, in addition to the lack of focus on macro objectives. “O CEO who is very focused on day to day ends up having less time to think about innovation, transformation and the future. He loses a lot by failing to look outside the company, losing what happens in the market, in addition to not paying attention to the broader goals of the organization, which involve the large transformational actions that help move the company's SHARPS.

Can AI hurt the ability to delegate from a CEO?

The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has brought some fears in the market that technology may replace some positions and, for some, may further reinforce the fear of delegating tasks or functions. According to a survey made by Digital DNA in some countries, CEOs are afraid of being replaced by machines 43% of respondents confirmed to feel this insecurity. “I recently participated in a forum in London that brought this subject for discussion. Some elements in this direction have not yet evolved, especially with regard to the value judgment, that is, AI still does not know clearly what is right and wrong”, emphasizes Rodrigo.

The EXEC partner reassures and informs that AI should not replace a CEO, because it is not able to bring an important attribute to decision making, intuition. “For decision making, the final word is still from a human, who commits to an information, action, diagnosis or solution, and uses AI as decision support.”

Magalhaes also points out that AI can help the CEO on several fronts, whether in decision making, providing market insights and analysis, as well as helping in the formulation of business strategies based on trends and updated data.“In addition, it can improve business communication, assisting in the writing and review of corporate documents, such as reports, important emails, speeches and communications, and contribute to the management of the”.As per the ADN research, 45% of executives stated that they make decisions based on data and information using ChatGPT.

The EXEC partner also highlights that AI can serve as a support in generating creative ideas for the development of new products, services or marketing strategies, as well as creating educational materials and providing personalized content for team training or individual professional updating.“O ChatGPT, for example, has a lot of information and a wide database, which is important to be able to understand what the market is doing, as well as facilitating the creation of content for training and training of” employees, he emphasizes.

According to EXEC partner, CEO who does not surrender to AI may lose market space. 

How to delegate more and become more strategic?

In a time of great transformations in the market, Rodrigo elected five tips to help the CEO to detach from the operational routine and become more strategic.

1. Have a good “N1”.“It is important that he be surrounded by good leaders below him, such as vice president, directors and managers who are able to embrace operational issues. They need to be very good so that the CEO can trust them”;
2.  Create routines to monitor the broader goals.“This also involves establishing some management rituals so that the CEO does not feel too distant from what day-to-day activities are”;
3. Use technology to keep track of what is happening. “But this does not mean that the leader needs to be copied in all emails, messages, be in all WhatsApp groups”, he warns.
4. Exercise the practice of delegating every day and ask yourself questions at all times.“It is an exercise in behavior, letting people make decisions and avoiding the non-centralization of the” management.

For Magellan, the role of the CEO is to lead the team, define strategies and make decisions that require creativity, business vision and empathy.“ is delegating that the leader can extract the best of his teams and exercise the strategic management of people”, he concludes.