September 8, 2025

Stop Leading Like a Founder. Start Leading Like a CEO.

Your team is smart.
Capable.
Proven.

And yet… you’re still the final answer on everything.

1. The founder trap: defaulting to doer

Founders who scale stay in vision mode.
Founders who stall stay in builder mode.

The longer you stay in “just let me handle it” mode, the more you train your team to stay dependent.

It’s not noble. It’s negligent.

2. Stop transferring tasks. Transfer responsibility.

Don’t delegate what to do.
Delegate what matters and let them define the how.

Ask:

  • “What outcome will you own this quarter?”
  • “What support do you need, not direction?”
  • “If I weren’t here, what would you do?”

If your team isn’t making calls, it’s usually because you haven’t made the room.

3. What you allow, you reinforce

Next time someone asks for your input, try asking back:

  • “What’s your recommendation?”
  • “What decision would you make if this were yours?”

The best CEOs don’t have all the answers.
They build teams who do.

Ask yourself:
Where am I still the bottleneck, not because I have to be, but because I haven’t built trust?