By Tim Schneider

I have the opportunity to be associated with a local organization that offers a great perspective of poor leadership and organizational effectiveness.

This particular group bottlenecks all decisions and points of concern back to the CEO. The organization has several quality professional staff members but they are powerless to act without the blessing of the CEO.

This creates, among other things:

1. Powerless and empowerment-less team members that cannot solve issues or think on their own.

2. Unneeded delays in responding to routine and common requests.

3. Lack of morale and sense of total purpose among team members.

4. Isolation and lack of availability from the CEO (he is too busy approving everything).

Take a look at your own organization and decide if too much is bottle necked by applying a 10% rule. If 10% or less of all decisions need to be run up a level (or run to your level), you are a healthy organization. If more than 10% of all decision points require one-up approval, you need to look at efficiencies, organization and empowerment of team members.