We are constantly changing, increasingly hyperconnected, and the urgent seems to dominate every minute of our agenda. So there is something I constantly ask myself: Are we really spending our time on what matters?
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Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a conversation with Salvador Alva Gomezformer president of the Tecnológico de Monterrey and former president of PepsiCo, and different leaders of the city. There, Salvador emphasized that Leaders are needed who, beyond management, have the ability to transform the country:L
“There are no underdeveloped countries, there are just poorly managed countries.”
While speed and efficiency are necessary, Many leaders fall into the trap of spending our time on the immediate, forgetting that what really defines the future of our companies (or our lives) is much deeper; and Salvador explains it very well in his new book What a leader should not delegate.
According to the Global Leadership Development Study 2023, leadership should not delegate functions such as vision or talent attraction, because they are essential to building a sustainable organization. Leaders who focus on delegating operational tasks and not strategic elements, such as culture and talent development, achieve a significant impact on the longevity and competitiveness of their companies.
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24 hours a day seems to be insufficient when you don’t have focus or when you live putting out fires, as Salvador states in his book:
“We cannot lose sight of what truly defines the future of our company: vision, culture and talent.”
I totally agree: Delegating the vision is delegating the future of the company, Not getting involved in creating the culture means allowing others to decide how to do it; leaving the attraction of talent in the hands of third parties means giving up the possibility of building a team aligned with our values and objectives.
We know that we cannot do everything and this is where the ability to delegate comes into play: the operational, the routine and the urgent, all of that can be delegated, but not the decisions that define who we are as an organization and as people. The key is knowing where we should be present and where we can trust our team.
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Carlos Raúl Yepes in his book It is worth thinking about It also reminds us that we live in an era that drags us towards the immediate. However, we need to stop and think about what really matters. The real question a leader must ask himself is not how can I do more, but what should I not stop doing?
Time is our most valuable resource and, while the urgent demands us, it is the important things that really build the future. Vision, culture and talent are non-negotiableIf we want to lead with purpose and leave a legacy, we must learn to manage the urgent, but never delegate that which defines who we are and who we will be.