/ceos-delegate

name: ceos-delegate
description: Use when categorizing tasks for delegation using the Delegate and Elevate 4-quadrant framework
file-access: [data/delegate/, templates/delegate.md, data/accountability.md, data/people/]
tools-used: [Read, Write, Glob]

ceos-delegate

Categorize a leader's tasks and responsibilities into the Delegate and Elevate 4-quadrant matrix based on enjoyment and competency. Identify what to keep, what to delegate, and create action plans for handing off work that doesn't belong in the leader's "Love It / Great At It" quadrant.

**Not for:** People evaluation (use `ceos-people`), organizational structure (use `ceos-accountability`), or performance conversations (use `ceos-quarterly`). Delegate and Elevate is a **leadership development tool** — it helps leaders focus on their highest and best use, not assess fit or performance.

When to Use

• "Run delegate and elevate for [person]" or "delegation audit"
• "What should I be delegating?" or "am I doing the right work?"
• "Review delegation progress" or "how's [person]'s delegation going?"
• "Create a delegation plan" or "help me hand off these tasks"
• "What's in my bottom quadrants?" or "show my D&E results"
• "Time for a delegation audit" or "let's do delegate and elevate"
• Any discussion about task delegation, leadership focus, or highest-and-best-use

Context

Finding the CEOS Repository

Search upward from the current directory for the `.ceos` marker file. This file marks the root of the CEOS repository.

If `.ceos` is not found, stop and tell the user: "Not in a CEOS repository. Clone your CEOS repo and run setup.sh first."

**Sync before use:** Once you find the CEOS root, run `git -C <ceos_root> pull --ff-only --quiet 2>/dev/null` to get the latest data from teammates. If it fails (conflict or offline), continue silently with local data.

Key Files

| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | `data/delegate/` | Delegate and Elevate audit files (one per person) | | `templates/delegate.md` | Template for new delegation audits | | `data/accountability.md` | Source of seat responsibilities (read-only — use ceos-accountability to modify) | | `data/people/` | People Analyzer evaluations (read-only — reference for context) |

Delegate File Format

Each person has a markdown file at `data/delegate/firstname-lastname.md` with YAML frontmatter:

person: "Brad Feld"
seat: "Visionary"
date: "2026-02-15"
status: active            # active | reviewed | stale
quadrant_counts:
  love_great: 5           # Love It / Great At It — keep
  like_good: 3            # Like It / Good At It — delegate when possible
  not_like_good: 4        # Don't Like It / Good At It — delegate soon
  not_like_not_good: 2    # Don't Like It / Not Good At It — delegate immediately
delegation_progress:
  delegated: 3            # Tasks successfully delegated
  total: 6                # Total tasks in bottom two quadrants
  percent: 50
last_reviewed: "2026-02-15"

**File naming:** `firstname-lastname.md` — lowercase, hyphenated. Person-centric (survives role changes).

The Four Quadrants

| Quadrant | Enjoyment | Competency | Action | Priority | |----------|-----------|------------|--------|----------| | **Love It / Great At It** | High | High | Keep | — | | **Like It / Good At It** | Medium | High | Delegate when possible | Low | | **Don't Like It / Good At It** | Low | High | Delegate soon | Medium | | **Don't Like It / Not Good At It** | Low | Low | Delegate immediately | High |

The goal is to spend 80%+ of time in Quadrant 1. Tasks in Quadrants 3 and 4 drain energy and often become bottlenecks because the leader delays or underperforms them.

Status Values

| Status | Meaning | When | |--------|---------|------| | `active` | Current audit, delegation in progress | After initial audit or re-audit | | `reviewed` | Audit reviewed, delegation actions updated | After a Review or Plan session | | `stale` | Audit is > 120 days old | Flagged automatically by Review mode |

Process

Mode: Audit

Use when running a Delegate and Elevate audit for a specific person. This is typically done 1-2x per year per leadership team member.

Step 1: Identify the Person

Ask for the person's name. Check if `data/delegate/firstname-lastname.md` already exists.

• **Exists:** Read the file, show current quadrant distribution: "You have an existing audit from [date]. Re-audit (start fresh) or update (add/move tasks)?"
• **New person:** Will create from `templates/delegate.md`

Step 2: Pull Context from Accountability Chart

Read `data/accountability.md` to find the person's seat(s) and their 5 key responsibilities per seat.

• **Has a seat:** Display responsibilities as a starter list: "Based on the Accountability Chart, here are [person]'s seat responsibilities. We'll use these as a starting point — you can add, remove, or modify."
• **Multiple seats:** Display all seats grouped separately: "Seat 1: [name] — [5 roles]. Seat 2: [name] — [5 roles]."
• **No seat found:** Warn: "[Person] has no seat defined in the Accountability Chart. List their tasks/responsibilities manually."

Optionally check `data/people/firstname-lastname.md` for additional context (GWC assessment, current status). Don't display unless relevant — this is about tasks, not performance.

Step 3: List All Tasks and Responsibilities

Walk the user through building a complete task list. Start with the seat responsibilities from Step 2, then expand:

"Beyond seat responsibilities, what else does [person] spend time on? Think about:

• Recurring meetings they run or attend
• Administrative tasks (email, reports, approvals)
• Projects they're leading or contributing to
• Tasks they've inherited or picked up informally
• Things 'only they can do' (real or perceived)"

Collect tasks as a numbered list. Aim for 10-20 tasks total. If the user lists fewer than 8, prompt: "Leaders typically have 12-20 distinct responsibilities. Are there tasks you're forg