How can I manage a large, long-term project without getting bogged down in the details?

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Question: I manage a large team working on big, long-term projects with many moving parts. I enjoy being at the helm, but it can be a challenge to stay on top of everything that needs to get done. How can I keep from getting bogged down in the details and keep the big picture front of mind?
We asked Lisa Zarzeczny, co-founder and CEO of Elevate Festival (happening in Toronto Oct. 1-3), to tackle this one:
This is exactly what I deal with on a daily basis. We’re managing an event with 10,000 attendees, 350 speakers and hundreds of volunteers. It’s a huge project with a tonne of moving parts and so many things from a tactical perspective that need to get done that you can quickly find yourself in the weeds.
The key to managing this has been to build a powerful team, especially when it comes to my direct reports. I’ve made sure to find people who are better than I am in their respective fields so I can completely trust them to deliver in their areas of expertise, from the programming team to the operations team to the finance team. I see my number one job as recruiting, empowering and retaining a top level of talent. Once I have the right people in the right roles, my role is to support them in whatever capacity they need.
I think regular, consistent check-ins are extremely important. I would rather have something in the books and cancel it if there’s nothing urgent or timely to discuss. I’m also an extremely accessible leader, so team members will book ad hoc meetings with me. One of the jobs of a leader is to make sure that they’re not blocking people, so I give people answers as quickly as possible.
I think women sometimes have a difficult time transitioning from an independent contributor to a manager or leader. I certainly did in my career and my journey. It’s very easy to default to things that are in your comfort zone, like the tactical or executional areas. It’s more difficult to take on aspects of the business that may be more challenging for you.
There’s also this tendency to say, ‘It’s easier to do something myself,’ versus taking the time to properly train someone and give them the resources needed to perform at the same level.
One of the things that I did when I transitioned to CEO was I forced myself every week to enter areas where I was uncomfortable to really encourage my own growth and development. For me, that was becoming the face of Elevate, meeting with external stakeholders, doing business development, fundraising and sponsorships.
Every week I would set a target for myself to meet with X number of people or take X number of meetings and hold myself accountable to that growth and development versus going back into areas where I was more comfortable. That’s been a big part of my learning as a leader.
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