The Competence Triangle: What it is and How it Helps Leaders Take Responsibility

When a business owner personally checks every invoice – that's not about control, it's about fear. I say this as someone who has been through it. There was a period when I literally didn't let a single check go without personal approval. It seemed like that's how I would protect the company from irrational spending, but in reality, it made me the main bottleneck in my own business: all processes slowed down, and some simply stopped because they didn't reach my desk.

We, entrepreneurs, often say: "We need a team that takes responsibility, thinks, acts, and delivers results." But as soon as it comes to the budget, we clip people's wings. Without the ability to manage money, even the most initiative-driven leader will sooner or later turn into a petitioner, and sometimes – an external observer. The marketing department can't launch a campaign if every payment to a contractor has to be approved for weeks. The system administrator can't ensure uninterrupted equipment operation if they don't have the right to order elementary components. This isn't laziness or indifference – it's a lack of authority.

It is at this point that the model I call the competence triangle becomes relevant. This is not an abstract theory, but a working tool that changes the management culture in companies.

Three Pillars of Competence: Knowledge, Responsibility, Control

The essence of the model is simple: for an employee to truly be responsible for the result, they need three things – an understanding of the situation, an internal readiness to influence it, and a real ability to make decisions. These are the vertices of the triangle: knowledge, responsibility, and control.

Knowledge is the foundation. A manager must understand how the company's finances are structured, see the income and expense structure, and be familiar with the budget. Without this information, it's impossible to make adequate decisions – it's like trying to navigate a ship in a dense fog.

Responsibility is an internal attitude. It doesn't appear by command from above and isn't transferred with a position. It's a person's choice: to take responsibility or blame someone else. And as long as they don't have the tools to influence, expecting responsibility from them is pointless.

Control is the ability to truly manage. To make a decision, spend money, change priorities. This is not supervision or micromanagement, but the right to influence. Without it, neither knowledge nor even high personal responsibility will yield results.

All three components work only together. Remove one, and competence will collapse. Give knowledge, but no right to act – the person will quickly burn out. Offer influence, but without understanding the situation, and mistakes will be inevitable. Expect responsibility without providing tools, and you will get apathy and burnout.

Why Doesn't Responsibility Appear on its Own?

I often see companies demanding initiative from managers, and then not even giving them basic authority. We conducted an internal study and found: 78% of middle managers feel like executors, not managers. More than half of them don't know what amounts are available for their department – they simply lack financial transparency.

In one of the companies where we implemented a new management model, the marketing director honestly admitted: "I waited three weeks for budget approval for a contractor, and then they asked me why there were no leads." This is a typical story. Without access to the budget, it's impossible to manage. We cannot demand results if a person doesn't know the rules of the game and cannot influence the outcome.

How the System Works in Practice

When I introduced a council of managers in one of my companies 10 years ago, I was amazed at how quickly the approach to work and the level of responsibility could change. The council distributes the money actually received by the company each week. These aren't planned budgets, but live money – what the business earned in the last seven days. Managers submit applications in advance, explain what funds are needed for, and justify why it's important. Everyone understands: resources are always limited, which means priorities must be clearly defined.

In the first month, almost everyone was silent. They didn't know how to argue, they didn't understand how to "defend" their budgets. But after four weeks, the discussions became meaningful. The production manager, who used to only complain about outdated equipment, suddenly proposed a growth point: "If you give me a budget for a small modernization, I will increase production volumes from 60 to 80 thousand units. And in a month – to 120." He wasn't asking for "money for the department" – he proposed a specific investment with a projected return. They listened to him. They allocated funds. He delivered.

Transparency = Efficiency

According to Harvard Business Review, companies with high financial transparency show a productivity growth 10–15% higher than those where employees do not have access to information. Gallup research also confirms: employee engagement is directly related to the ability to influence the process and see the results of their work.

This is the essence of the competence triangle: a person becomes truly engaged when they understand how the system works, feel their zone of influence, and can make decisions. Otherwise, everything comes down to the mechanical execution of someone else's tasks.

How to Implement the Triangle in Financial Management?

The first step is to establish clear and logical rules: how much the company can spend in different areas, what limits exist, and which items are protected. This is formed based on a budget that reflects strategy, not momentary desires.

The second is to delegate some authority. A council of managers, which includes all key managers, analyzes income weekly, reviews applications, compares them with plans, and makes a coordinated decision. Final approval rests with the owner, but the process goes from bottom to top.

The third is to educate. Not all managers are immediately ready to think in terms of return on investment. Not everyone knows how to see how every expense relates to profit. But this can be developed – if you give them the right, give them information, and demand results.

Conclusion

If you feel that you have become a bottleneck in your company, if decisions are made only through you, and the team is passive – look at your business through the prism of the competence triangle. Perhaps the problem is not with the people, but with the system.

Create conditions where knowledge, responsibility, and control become part of everyday management practice – and you will be surprised how quickly the business begins to breathe differently.

Your team is passive, and you feel like the "bottleneck" in your own business? This article is about building a system where every manager takes responsibility and makes informed decisions.

But a responsible team is only part of the journey. To truly scale your business and increase its value, you need a deep understanding of its true worth and potential.

At the free master class "How a business owner can increase company value by 3-5 times", you won't just get theory; you'll apply it in practice. You'll learn how to genuinely assess your business, uncover hidden reserves, and develop a strategy for exponentially increasing its profit and value.

Register now to gain the tools and knowledge that will help you break free from current limitations and elevate your company to the next level. Register for the master class