After decades of working with many top entrepreneurs and C-level executives in NYC, I’ve identified the five things that the city’s most successful entrepreneurs most consistently delegate. These tasks and assignments are specifically entrusted to others so they can focus on what matters most.
1.) Administrative and Housekeeping Duties
The first thing NYC business leaders typically delegate is the mundane work that needs to get done but doesn’t require their direct involvement. This includes administrative duties and other housekeeping tasks – anything from dealing with paperwork and phone calls, setting up meetings and appointments, arranging travel plans, and doing errands. or even filing reports. Most CEOs don’t have time for such mundane tasks and prefer to leave them in the hands of trusted professionals who can handle them quickly and accurately.
Delegating these types of tasks helps CEOs and other executives keep their own plates clear and avoid being inundated with nonessential messages and communications.
2.) CEO Budgeting and Bookkeeping
From the beginning, successful NYC entrepreneurs also delegate financial matters such as budgeting and bookkeeping. While they need to certainly be aware of budgets and costs, they don’t necessarily need to be doing the grunt work themselves. By entrusting these duties to those who specialize in them, CEOs are able to remain focused on the big picture while still being aware of what’s going on financially within their business.
3.) Staying On Top of the Latest Research and Technology
It’s a fast-paced world, and it’s only going to accelerate more. Research is a time-consuming activity, but it’s absolutely necessary for informed decision-making. Research can include anything from market research, to legal or financial information, to background checks on potential hires. That’s why the best CEOs in NYC delegate these research-oriented tasks to specialists who can provide them with the best information in the shortest time possible.
In addition, top NYC executives have processes that don’t directly involve the C-level team to keep their tech stacks updated. From maintaining computers and software to keeping up with the latest technological trends, there’s too much happening in the tech world for any one person to keep up with it all. So instead of spending hours trying to understand every new development, successful CEOs in NYC outsource these tasks so they can focus on what truly matters – running their business.
4.) Tasks Related to Company Culture
I recommend that entrepreneurs delegate mundane tasks related to company culture. This includes items typical of an HR department that many entrepreneurs are guilty of doing themselves early on, such as managing company culture initiatives like pizza days and summer picnics, leading training sessions and mentorship programs, and directly creating policies that promote respect, innovation, collaboration, and trust among all team members – regardless of their background or experience level. Some business leaders even find it difficult to hand off items like creating schedules and managing events within the organization, saying that handling it themselves ensures a positive work environment and successful workflow.
Yet one of the factors that set elite NYC entrepreneurs from the rest of the pack is that they entrust these responsibilities to others as fully as possible. By delegating these types of tasks to HR professionals (even as one-off consultants), CEOs are able to ensure their employees not only working in an environment that is suited for productivity and growth but that their rank-and-file also have a say in the day-to-day practices that comprise their company culture.
5.) Managing Projects – and People – Directly
This is perhaps the hardest pill to swallow for many top executives, but I highly recommend it, and as soon as possible: Entrepreneurs need to start to delegate managing projects as soon as they can. I also recommend delegating day-to-day communication, especially with customers or employees who are not high-priority for the business at this time. This can include assigning an individual or team, depending on the size of the task at hand. Most CEOs simply don’t have the time to be bogged down with overseeing every single project, person, and customer of their organizations, and the most successful entrepreneurs know this.
It’s best to entrust management to others early on in the life cycle of an organization and to find repeatable, scalable processes that grow with the business.
Bottom Line
CEOs and other C-level executives must delegate responsibility for company culture to ensure that everyone within the organization has a role in creating a positive work environment. This includes senior management setting expectations, fostering strong relationships between departments, and encouraging open communication among employees.
Too often, CEOs function as a bottleneck rather than a catalyst for these processes, getting in the way when they need to be delegating and empowering others. Ultimately, NYC’s most successful CEOs know they are responsible for setting the tone and creating an environment in which everyone feels supported. This means listening to employee feedback, being open-minded, and taking steps to ensure that everyone understands their role in maintaining positive company processes and culture. By investing in team-building activities, providing relevant training opportunities, and promoting collaboration between departments, elite CEOs create an atmosphere of trust that allows employees to thrive rather than get in the way.
With the help of our Mark Taylor’s Vistage Groups, entrepreneurs in New York City can learn how to make delegation work for them—and ultimately become even more successful. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to us. Happy delegating!
