In a recent episode of the Morning Brew Daily podcast, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled what he considers his most controversial leadership principle: minimal delegation.
Despite the common practice of distributing decision-making responsibilities, the 39-year-old tech titan prefers to personally oversee most decisions within the firm.
Zuckerberg’s Perspective:
“I think probably one of my most controversial leadership or management things is like I don’t believe in delegating that much.
I kind of think the way a founder should work is you should make as many decisions and get involved in as many things as you can,” expressed Zuckerberg during the podcast.
Balancing Act:
However, Zuckerberg acknowledged the importance of sharing responsibilities with talented individuals within the organization. While he prefers to be deeply involved in decision-making, he recognizes the necessity of relying on capable team members to handle critical tasks.
“You need all these other awesome people because no matter how much time I put into all these things, there’s still going to be so much stuff that I can’t get to, and we need awesome people who can do all the really important stuff that I’m not doing, but I don’t know,” he conceded.
Confidence in Approach:
Despite potential criticisms, Zuckerberg expressed confidence in his management style. He acknowledged that while minor setbacks may occur, he has learned to navigate them over time, emphasizing the importance of consistent, long-term excellence.
“That’s something that I guess I’ve just gotten more confident in over time, is just sort of feeling like hey, yeah, I can go deep on all this stuff and push it in a direction that I think, and yeah not everything is going to go well in the near term, but you just learn, rinse, and repeat. Do good work over a long period,” he remarked.
Future Plans and Cultural Considerations:
As Meta continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence advancements and other technologies, Zuckerberg revealed plans to maintain a relatively minimal headcount growth in 2024 and beyond.
Despite ambitious goals, he believes in preserving a lean organizational structure to foster a culture of efficiency and effectiveness.
“Until we reach a point where we are just really underwater on our ability to execute, I want to keep things lean because I think that’s the right thing for us to do culturally,” Zuckerberg explained.
