The CEO Bottleneck Effect

Most construction companies stop growing not because of market limits, but because the CEO becomes the operational bottleneck. Research from Harvard shows founder bottlenecks reduce company throughput by 30–65% depending on the role.

The bottleneck indicators:
• CEO handles all client issues
• Team waits for decisions
• No second line of leadership
• CEO buried in operational details

The solution requires structured delegation:
1. A project coordinator to absorb scheduling
2. A standardised Monday leadership meeting
3. Decision dashboards to reduce CEO involvement

Once bottlenecks are removed, firms typically grow 20–40% without adding more chaos.

Stefano Solferini MBA, BSc
Chairman, Marco Polo Group
www.marcopologroup.net