The shift from being the strongest producer to developing people who can lead.
Notice the bottleneck
A growing team can still depend on one person for every answer. When that person is you, adding people may increase the number of decisions you carry instead of creating capacity.
Start by noticing which questions repeatedly come back to you. Are responsibilities unclear? Does someone lack context? Or have you held on to a decision that someone else could make?
Make ownership clear
Delegation works better when the person understands the outcome, the boundaries and when to ask for help. Handing off a task without those details can leave both people frustrated.
Choose one recurring responsibility. Define what good work looks like and who owns it. Agree on a review point instead of making yourself the approval step for every small decision.
A team grows differently when people know what they own—and have room to own it.
Develop judgment
The next step is helping people understand why a decision makes sense. Ask what they recommend, what they considered and what tradeoff they see.
Leadership creates room for other people to grow. Clear expectations and useful feedback help turn that intention into a working practice.
One useful step this week.
- Identify one challenge this perspective brings to mind.
- Write down the outcome you want and what is getting in the way.
- Choose one action, give it an owner and set a review point.
What would change if you addressed this?
Bring the challenge this raised for you. Share your role, market and what you want to build—we’ll start there.
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