Centralized management is one of the most complex problems facing most organizations around the world, as the focus is solely on senior management without paying attention to—or acknowledging—second-tier leaders. It is as if we are focusing only on the present while neglecting the future and paying it no heed. It is well known that second-tier leaders are the leaders of tomorrow who will shoulder the responsibility.

There is no dispute that developing competent managerial leaders capable of facing future challenges is at the heart of the work of senior management and strategic planning departments, as the second tier not only secures the future but also assists and collaborates with senior leadership in supporting and making decisions and managing operations, whereas excessive centralization of decision-making within senior management stifles creativity and wastes the potential of employees at all management levels.

Reality shows that a great deal of tremendous potential has been unleashed when given the space to be creative, think, and execute. Establishing a second tier within senior executive management has several advantages, including lightening the burden on the first tier and freeing it up to focus on major tasks and missions, as well as discovering and harnessing the potential of the second tier to serve the organization, and helping to develop new leaders and equip them with experience through the implementation of decisions and follow-up.

Furthermore, delegating tasks helps senior management provide better guidance and oversight. When second-tier leaders become significantly involved in the work and contribute their ideas to decision-making, the organization ensures the success of those decisions—and why not? After all, these decisions were issued by those who will deal with and implement them—they were not imposed on them by senior management. Yet that same level of interest and care is not evident when decisions are simply handed down to them for execution alone . .

Finally, it is impossible to expand operations and grow organizations without the ability to delegate tasks and decisions to second-tier leaders.

To build and empower the second tier of managerial leadership, we must define their roles within the organization, analyze the challenges they face, and measure and evaluate their competencies using the “360-degree” assessment, the concept of which is that an employee is evaluated annually by four parties, rather than just the immediate supervisor as was previously the case. These parties are: coworkers; clients or auditors—depending on the organization’s activities; subordinates; and the direct manager’s evaluation.