A CEO recently had me sit in on a weekly meeting with one of his direct reports. I noticed several things:

• The CEO did more talking than his SVP.
• The CEO talked in a way that conveyed he knew as much or more than his SVP on the topic at-hand.
• The CEO was quick to direct and tell the SVP what he should be doing and how he should do it.
• The SVP seemed to sit back and stop sharing his own ideas. To me, he appeared disempowered.

My takeaway from observing all of this: One of them is redundant. What value was the SVP able to add? And, perhaps more importantly, what value should the SVP have been adding?
Here’s the thing: Great leaders don’t have to be subject matter experts.
Great leaders hire others who are subject matter experts. This is called surrounding yourself with people who are smarter than you.
Let’s be honest: If you’re the leader, it feels good to be the expert. And comfortable. We like being up-to-date. We like showing others that we are informed. Appearing to be “The Smart One” is a quick way to project power in a conversation.
Great leaders, though, have the self-confidence to surround themselves with subject matter experts. They don’t have to prove their worth to their subordinates. They already know their worth. And these leaders want their people to share their best thinking, their best recommendations.
More, when CEOs aren’t down in the weeds of a subordinate’s job, they are able to bring the strategic perspective. They can see what is working, what is missing, and what needs adjusting. They can use their wealth of experience to bring wisdom and balance to the discussion. They have the aerial view, the big picture.
One leader who understands the importance of hiring smart employees is Phil Libin, the CEO of Evernote. Phil says, “Everyone who reports to me has to be much better at doing his or her job than I could ever be.” (Liban writes more about his hiring practices here.)
So, as you empower the smart people working for you, try a few of these pointers:

• Do more asking than telling: Great questions drive great decisions.
• Remember why you hired who you hired: View your employee as the subject matter expert for her area. Ask yourself, “Why did I hire her in the first place?”
• Be careful of interrupting and jumping in: When you do this, YOU become the subject matter expert, and your direct report becomes excess.
• Agree quietly when you agree: Don’t feel a need to repeat all that was said just for the sake of being heard.
• Add your perspective when necessary: Speak to the issues where you disagree. When you question how a conclusion was reached, press in with your concern.
• Hold your report accountable to outcomes: Don’t micromanage every detail of his activity.

(BTW: If your subordinates are NOT the subject matter experts you need them to be, do something about that. See my previous post on giving feedback.)
Your organization will suffer when, instead of giving what only you can give, you try to do everyone else’s job. Let your subordinates zoom in, and let yourself zoom out to the bigger picture perspective required of senior leaders.