How Many Direct Reports Is Too Many?
No Bullsh!t Leadership · 2026-03-31 · 18 min
Episode notes
Why your direct reports are underperforming and how to turn it around. What happens when you give one manager 50 direct reports and call it innovation? Chaos. In this episode, I cut through the corporate delusion that flatter structures are better, and I give you the insights to help you confidently build a structure that actually delivers results. I start with the fundamentals: why organisations need teams, why teams need structure, and why leaders are essential to making both work. I focus on the main tool of indiscriminate cost cutting: span of control, and I leave you with four practical factors you can use right now to assess whether your own structure is working for you, or against you. Source Material: No Bullsh!t Leadership episodes: Ep.363: Why Your IT Project Will Fail Fortune article: Meta’s new AI team has 50 engineers per boss. What could go wrong? Gallup research: Span of Control: What’s the Optimum Team Size for Managers? Wikipedia links: Division of Labour Plato Adam Smith The Wealth of Nations LBT link: Leadership Beyond the Theory ———————— Have you taken our free Leadership Blindspot test ?