Ex-Twitch CEO Emmett Shear Warns Against Over-Delegating Big Decisions

Emmett Shear, former CEO of Twitch and interim CEO of OpenAI, has warned leaders against over-delegating critical decisions, emphasizing that effective leadership requires both trust in teams and personal accountability. Speaking on the "Social Radars" podcast, Shear reflected on his tenure at Twitch, where he initially benefited from delegation by bringing in experienced leaders like CTOs. However, he admitted that over time, he began to believe he shouldn’t override his team’s decisions—even when he sensed something was off. “I hired experts, I was supposed to let them do their jobs,” Shear said. “When I didn’t like how something felt, or where I was taking the company, I should crush down that concern and not act on it.” He now calls this approach a mistake. In an email to Business Insider, Shear elaborated that excessive delegation can lead to slower decision-making, reduced risk-taking, and lower overall efficiency. While he now runs a much smaller company—AI startup Softmax—his experience at Twitch taught him the importance of judgment and context. “No one but the CEO ever really understands what’s going on, because it’s not their job,” he said. “That’s my job.” Shear stressed that a CEO’s role isn’t just to assign tasks but to discern which decisions demand their direct involvement. “Is this the kind of decision that we have to get right, or is this the kind of decision where it’s actually OK if we screw it up and it can be a learning experience for somebody?” he asked. His perspective aligns with the Silicon Valley concept of “founder mode,” a mindset championed by Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator. Graham criticized the idea that leaders should simply hire competent people and step back, warning it often results in “professional fakers” steering companies toward failure. Shear’s own career ties to this philosophy are evident—after Sam Altman’s brief ousting from OpenAI in 2023, Shear stepped in as interim CEO, reinforcing his belief in active, hands-on leadership. Ultimately, Shear said his growth came from making mistakes and learning from them. “That’s how I learned all this stuff, is I made a lot of mistakes and I got to learn from them,” he said. His message to leaders: delegate wisely, but never abdicate responsibility.