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Do You Have a ‘Who’ Problem?

September 11, 2023

The oth­er day, an over­seas client and I were talk­ing about a prob­lem in the business.

When we start­ed drop­ping down from a CEO lev­el to an exec­u­tive lev­el, to a man­ag­er lev­el, in our think­ing and trou­bleshoot­ing, we had to stop.

I real­ized that we were doing some­one else’s job. Dig­ging in deeply to try to solve oper­a­tional or sys­tems issues isn’t a CEOs job.

So, we didn’t have a ​‘how’ prob­lem. We had a ​‘who’ problem.

The right peo­ple in the right seats

Unfor­tu­nate­ly, when we don’t have the peo­ple doing what they’re sup­posed to or don’t have the right peo­ple in key seats, many CEOs and exec­u­tives acquire a part time job tak­ing on some of oth­er people’s responsibilities.

And that’s a problem.

When you do some­one else’s job, you insu­late them from learn­ing expe­ri­ences and stretch­ing their capa­bil­i­ties through the val­ue of fail­ure, and rob them of account­abil­i­ty and poten­tial for their own growth.

I talk about this in Stop Being Chief Prob­lem Solver in chap­ter 12 of Your Oxy­gen Mask First.

Solve the right problem

Back to my con­ver­sa­tion last week. When we real­ized what we were doing, we start­ed a dif­fer­ent con­ver­sa­tion with a dif­fer­ent prob­lem to solve.

Instead of try­ing to solve the issues, we had to find the right who: a very expe­ri­enced exec­u­tive or con­sul­tant who could bring the think­ing of the per­son we did have, to the right level.

CEOs are not mas­ters of every­thing. Our job is to rec­og­nize the prob­lem and find some­one to solve it or help the per­son in the role to thrive. 

The Chal­lenge 

  • Think­ing about your world, where might you be unin­ten­tion­al­ly tak­ing on part time jobs, try­ing to help peo­ple on your team to do theirs?
  • Where do you need to change your ​“how” ques­tion to a ​“who” question?

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Past Pod­casts

About Lawrence & Co.
Lawrence & Co. is a growth strategy and leadership advisory firm that helps mid-market companies achieve lasting, reliable growth. Our Growth Management System turns 30 years of experience into practical steps that drive clarity, alignment, and performance—so leaders can grow faster, with less friction, and greater confidence.

About Kevin Lawrence
Kevin Lawrence has spent three decades helping companies scale from tens of millions to hundreds of millions in revenue. He works side-by-side with CEOs and leadership teams across North America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and Europe, bringing real-world insights from hands-on experience. Kevin is the author of Your Oxygen Mask First, a book of 17 habits to help high-performing leaders grow sustainably while protecting their mental health and resilience. He also contributed to Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0). Based in Vancouver, he leads Lawrence & Co, a boutique firm of growth advisors.