Why Every Decision Runs Through Your Desk (And How It's Killing Your Business)
The Challenge
So I'm talking to this contractor last week who runs a $60 million construction company, and he tells me he walked into his office Monday morning ready to finally call that developer who's been dangling a 2.5-year project in front of him. This thing is right up his alley, and he knows his team could absolutely crush it. But before he can even grab his phone, here come the interruptions. His project manager needs approval on a change order, his superintendent wants to switch concrete suppliers, and his estimator is asking whether to include some risky scope in a bid that's due today. By lunch, he'd fielded twelve decisions that, honestly, his team should be handling without him.
Now my first question to him was about where his lower-level executives were in all this, but for today, I want to focus on something else entirely. Why are so many questions landing on his desk in the first place? Meanwhile, and as you guessed, that developer call never happened, and he's sitting there thinking, "I built this whole company so I could work on growing it, not so I could approve every material swap and schedule change."
The Impact
Here's the thing that's killing me about this situation. While he's stuck approving routine decisions, his competitors are out there building the relationships that land the next big contract. That developer I mentioned? He requires months of strategic relationship building, but my friend can't block out the time because there's always another operational fire to put out. His backlog should be growing, but instead, he's spending his energy on stuff that keeps him busy instead of stuff that makes him money. The brutal part is his team has gotten comfortable just asking him instead of thinking it through, because why take responsibility when the boss will just make the call for you?
The Shift
So here's something powerful I've been working on with my clients that you can start immediately, and I'm telling you, this will absolutely change how your business runs. Starting Monday morning, you and your key people are keeping a decision journal for thirty days. Every time someone comes to you with a question, write it down. What they asked, what triggered it, what you told them. Have them track the same thing on their end.
Rating Scale:
- 1 = Tactical (They shouldn't need to ask - needs clear authority levels)
- 2 = Grey Area (Needs SOP, training, or better procedures)
- 3 = Strategic (Owner input genuinely required)
After thirty days, look for patterns. Utilize ChatGPT or another AI tool to identify trends that you might otherwise overlook. Then rate every question on that 1-3 scale. I guarantee you'll find that seventy percent of what hits your desk falls into categories 1 and 2. That's potentially fifteen hours a week you're getting back to work on actual business growth.
The Closing
Look, if you want to take your company to the next level, your people have to start making decisions without you. This journal exercise may seem simple (and it is!), but it's the key to getting your life back and letting your business grow the way you always envisioned. When your team starts making confident calls on their own, projects move faster, problems get solved quicker, and you finally have headspace to focus on those big relationship moves that bring in serious money. Every day you put this off is another day you stay stuck answering the same questions instead of building the future you want.
Jerry Aliberti
Pro-Accel, Owner
Webinar Announcement!!
On November 13th at 11 am EST, I’ll be joining forces with Patrick Shurney, Financial Coach and Owner of 3P Consulting, to host From
Builder to CEO — a paid masterclass that brings the financial and operational sides of contracting together.
This 90-minute session is built for contractors in the $5M–$100M range who want actionable steps, real deliverables, and immediate ROI. We’ll cover how to align your numbers and operations so you can step out of builder mode and into CEO mode.
- Ready to break free from the decision-making bottleneck and unlock your company's true growth potential? Pro-Accel's Executive Coaching program helps construction leaders build the systems and leadership capabilities that enable sustainable scaling. Reach out to jerry@pro-accel.com to schedule a call and discuss how we can transform your operations.
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