How a leader’s time should change as their company grows

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about my leadership team at Dragon Army. There are nine of us on the team, including myself and my co-founder, Ryan. And while I’ve had the chance to work with some amazing people in my past (at Spunlogic and Engauge,) I’ve never had such an impressive group, all passionately working together toward a common goal.

It’s an awesome thing to be a part of, and it’s why I’m easily the luckiest CEO I know.

Each person on the leadership team is a true leader – they solve problems, take responsibility for their (and they’re team’s) actions, communicate well with their departments…they’re just A+ players, it’s as simple as that.

And because of this, they all take on more than they probably should, and work more hours than I want them to work.

At a recent leadership team meeting (we hold weekly meetings, each Monday morning,) I shared the above chart with them, which is how I believe a leader’s time should change as a company grows.

The left side of the chart represents the percentage of your time (as a leader.) The bottom of the chart represents a company’s growth over time.

In the early days, when a company is small, a leader will be required to produce more, with little need to “lead”. When there’s no department to lead, you’re the department.

As a company grows, however, there’s a shift that a leader must go through in terms of how they spend their time. The trap is to find yourself still producing a great deal, while also managing a large department. Over time, you want to see the percentage of time a leader produces drop as the time they spend leading rises.