The Day I Realized I Was the Problem

Thirty years in, I’ve watched more companies stall out because of the CEO than any other reason. Including mine.

Early in my career, I ran a division that was growing nicely on paper but bleeding cash underneath. I blamed the market. I blamed the team. I restructured twice. Nothing moved. Then a mentor asked me a question I’ve never forgotten: “What if the problem isn’t the plan — it’s the person running it?”

The uncomfortable pattern

Across 100+ acquisitions and five continents, I’ve seen the same pattern. The CEO is the smartest person in the room on day one, so every decision routes through them. By year three, that same instinct is the bottleneck. The company can’t grow faster than the CEO’s calendar.

I’ve had to confront this in myself more than once. The executive who wins at $10M is rarely the executive who wins at $100M — unless they change.

Three signals you’re the problem

First, your team waits for you. Decisions pile up on your desk that should be made two levels down. Second, your meetings run long because you’re solving problems in the room that should have been solved before the meeting. Third, your best people are quieter than they used to be.

What changed for me

I stopped measuring my value by decisions made and started measuring it by decisions I didn’t have to make. That single shift rewired how I hired, how I delegated, and how I ran my day.

It’s the hardest work a CEO ever does. It’s also the only work that matters at scale.

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Bill Canady keynotes sharpen middle market executives on turnaround, profitable growth, and the 80/20 discipline behind $3B+ in enterprise value. Inquire about speaking engagements at billcanady.com.