If I Delegate, I’ll Lose Control and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves
CEOs, we are really good liars (to ourselves). We lie to ourselves all the time - saying dumb things that keep us stuck in the weeds, dumb things like “If I ask so and so to do “this thing”, then they won’t do it like I do it, because I’m the only one who can do it right, so I’ll just keep doing it” and you stay stuck and miserable and burnt out. Look, I get it, I was a stuck in the weeds founder for an embarrassingly long, long (way too freaking long) time. I get it I promise.
You built your business. You know your clients. You understand the details. You are the subject-matter expert in your firm. And deep down, you worry that if you let go, something will slip—quality will drop, relationships will suffer, or things just won't get done right. (Lies! Lies I tell you!)
So you stay in the weeds. And you burn out. And your team stays stuck and they don’t evolve and learn and grow. And everyone turns to you for every single decision. You can’t take an unplugged vacation without guilt or something blowing up. I mean, after all, no one can do it like you, right? Wrong! I know you want the freedom you deserve to unplug, relax, enjoy your “you time” - - you just need to learn how to systematically let go and know that your team has it covered. So how do you do that?
Make the shift: First you have to understand what skill set you are using when you do the thing you no longer want to do. Who else has that skill or can learn it? Who would love to do that thing - I mean it’s their jam, you know? Delegation isn't about losing control; it's actually about gaining leverage (and your freedom.) You’ll start small, so it’s not scary for you or the person doing the thing. Document one small (low-stakes) process. Train one person on that one small low-stakes thing and then get the heck out of the way.
Seriously, you have to give them the autonomy to own it and to screw up. I was the master at butting in when I asked a team member to “do the thing that I had done for years.” And guess what, I screwed it up. And guess what, you’ll probably screw it up too. That’s why you start small, and you give the team member something they can screw up too and learn from and eventually grow and eventually take on more. In time, you'll be amazed at how capable your team is when you actually let them step up. And you'll finally have the space to lead instead of manage. What will you do with all that time? Hmmmm….
In my work with coaching founders and CEOs out of the weeds, we focus 100% on strengths, so we know who should be doing this thing and more importantly who should not be doing that thing. We don’t spend a lot of time “strengthening weaknesses”, why spend the limited amount of time and energy you have on what’s hard let’s go for the easy stuff the stuff everyone is already good at or can easily learn.
Are you ready to get out of the weeds for good? Ready to build the support systems (people and cash flow) you need to work in your dream role every day, making the salary you want to make, and doing what you love to do with a team who loves what they do? If so, book a call - our CEO Leadership Intensive gets you there - in just 12 short weeks! Are you ready to get out of the weeds? Let’s do this.
