It’s universally acknowledged that we can’t scale without delegating to others. So why is it that even the most experienced founders find it so uncomfortable? That’s what we’re getting into this month with practical ways to reframe how we think about delegation and use it to fuel growth.
When was the last time you felt the pull of resistance when handing responsibility to a member of your team? That tightness in the pit of your stomach that warns you, “We can’t afford mistakes right now!” or “This is going to take twice as long, I should just do it!”
We’ve talked before about how tricky delegating as a founder can be. Whether it’s outsourcing diary management to a VA as the team starts to grow, or handing over control of a 100-person team to a newly formed C-Suite, I think we’ve all experienced the discomfort of letting go of control. For me, I worry most about the things that could affect the brand or have our credibility go awry in the wrong hands.
Yet, a 2014 Gallup study showed how closely delegation is linked to financial growth. Entrepreneurs with high delegatory skills were found to be turning over 33% more revenue, with a growth rate that was more than 100% higher than those with limited skills in delegation.
It’s no wonder then, that delegation was one of the top 3 leadership skills founders need to develop in our founderhood and resilience research – irrespective of startup stage.
Interestingly, it’s also a skill that needs to iterate as our startups grow. Avin Rhabheru, MBE, zeroed in on this in a recent FounderFuel Show. Having lived each stage, he sees three distinct phases in the founder leadership journey (regardless of title!):
- Founder phase (or rather, scrappy founder phase) where we’re taking the lead on everything.
- Managing Director phase – where we’re the conductors, who know exactly what everyone is working on and guiding them to a common goal
- CEO phase – where we’re custodians of our business’s North Star and strategy and leading through others.
More than any other leadership role, founderhood demands that we constantly hold a mirror up to ourselves and develop quickly. Never is this more true than with delegation.
Why does delegating feel so hard?
It’s an age-old adage that our startups feel like “our babies”, especially in the early stages, and it came out as one of the most unique things about founderhood in our research too. So it’s unsurprising that delegation feels tough when your heart, soul, savings and pride are so heavily invested.
Digging into the neuroscience around delegation
When we look at what is going on in our brains when we delegate it is easier to understand the blockers we have:
- Relinquishing control can bring up fears of things going wrong, or a loss of power, which instantly wakes up our threat detector – the amygdala – putting our physiology into fight or flight.
- Completing tasks ourselves gives a hit of dopamine, so when we deprive ourselves of quick wins, we get less gratification.
- Habits are also inherently comforting; our brain loves them for efficiency, but that means forming new habits feels laborious, leading us to resist change.
- Delegating can affect our sense of identity and self-worth. If we define ourselves as” indispensable”, or as the “problem solver”, or the “technical expert”, it’s hard to let go of related tasks.
The risk-trust equation also comes to play
Let’s face it, delegating also requires trust. And when you’re so used to doing everything yourself (as founders are) and you like things done in a certain way, it can be tough to trust.
Time and again, when discussing delegation with founders in our FounderCircles, the topic of trust comes up. The more comfortable we are with someone’s ability, attitude, and experience, the lower the perceived risk, feeding an intangible risk-trust evaluation.
This alone probably warrants its own article – so for now we’ll focus on the HOW of delegating, over WHO we’re choosing to trust. Let’s dive into some useful frameworks to help us let go more effectively at each phase of the founderhood journey.
Reframing what it means to delegate – the monkey bar concept
A helpful starting place is to soothe the amygdala’s threat response by reframing how we perceive delegation.
I like to think about delegation as swinging along a set of monkey bars. It’s impossible to get from one end to the other by concurrently holding every rung. It’s only through letting go that we get the forward momentum and capacity needed to progress.
We can even stretch this to Avin’s three phases on the founder journey:
- In the FOUNDER phase, we’re on the first few rungs, holding on with a tight grip.
- As MANAGING DIRECTORS, we’re in the intense middle of the monkey bars, building pace and competence.
- When we’re CEO’s, we’re swinging purposefully to our destination with the benefit of experience.
The discomfort of letting go of one rung in pursuit of the next is universal, but in reality, the complexity and scale of what is delegated changes across the founderhood lifecycle. So let’s explore them each in turn….
The Founder Phase: Delegating Tasks
We all know that reluctance to delegate as a founder in those early years is as much driven by lack of resources as it is by the discomfort of letting go. Yet I think most founders can agree they hold on too long to tasks. Usually that’s because losing control is felt so keenly at this stage, having designed, built, and steered the ship on our own for so long.
That said, the potential for burnout and error is high if we rely purely on the hustle and enthusiasm of the founder(s) for too long. There comes a tipping point where founder energy has to be laser-focused on product innovation and market fit, and for that to happen, we should challenge ourselves to see what BAU tasks can be delegated.
Knowing what to delegate
If you feel like you’re at this tipping point, now is the time to build that delegation muscle, and given the disparate nature of task management in these early years, prioritisation is key.
I love the framing of the simple tool below: It challenges us to ask:
(1) what is the task’s potential for driving growth (or risk of stopping it), and
(2) how long does the task take (something like Toggl can provide some objective data). And I might also add, is the task repeatable?
When you’re clear on exactly where your time is being spent and honest about what is driving growth for your business, it’s easier to make informed decisions.
For low growth drivers, look at low-cost delegation first if funds are tight (e.g., VAs to manage your diary, interns to manage social media, automation for bookkeeping, etc). If your funds allow, hire a freelancer or contractor for important tasks that require skills you don’t possess (e.g., coding or marketing).
The MD Phase: Delegating Execution
Avin described this phase as “man-marking/woman-marking everyone”. You’ve got a great mid-level team who lead on the execution – but as founder(s) we’re still setting the direction and strategy.
It’s a tricky stage as we shift from “doing” to “leading”. The discomfort of letting go feels particularly acute as we hand over enjoyable, dopamine-inducing, and business-critical responsibilities. In addition, the phrase I hear a lot in FounderCircles is “it’s quicker if I just do it myself!”
To break through with delegation at this stage – without falling into micromanagement as a founder – it’s helpful to ask whether the ends have been specified and not the means. When you hand over responsibility to a member of your team, keep the following questions in mind:
- Have I been clear on the outcome I’m looking for?
- Have I given them space to apply their own brilliance to the solution?
A useful framework to help is the “Blueprint for Empowering Delegation” which we call on a lot in FounderCircles and 1 to 1 coaching. It encourages us to approach delegation in the same way we’d approach a project – with clear objectives, scope, and deliverables. The key is to avoid dictating the solution (which would disempower) while also being clear on how much you want to be consulted. This is a critical step for founders due to that trust equation! Check out the framework here.
The CEO phase: delegating decision-making
Here, focus is dominated by investor relations, vision, and growth strategy, whilst supporting your C-Suite team, with the onslaught of BAU decision-making handed over to functional leaders.
And that’s likely to get your amygdala really fired up – fearing loss of identity and control. Trusting others to lead on your behalf – now that feels like a leap!
There are three things at your disposal to ease this discomfort:
- Reframe your thinking. Instead of “what do I want out of the business?”, think “what does the business need me to be”? Self-awareness is essential for recognising when we might be getting in the way of growth by prioritising our desire for involvement.
- Hire the best leaders your runway can accommodate, finding loyal self-starters that care about your mission and who extend (rather than just replace) your own skillset.
- Continue to develop your own coaching skills to empower your leaders. This keeps you involved but in a way that facilitates rather than impedes team accountability. As Avin reminded us during our chat, being a CEO is less about “doing” and more about asking the right questions to get the most out of people.
Our empowerment cycle below is a tool created specifically for founders to coach their leaders. It’s designed to inspire autonomous behaviour in teams, whether they’re coming to you with a problem or seeking your approval.
So, if you’re bootstrapped and overstretched, or scaling fast and feeling out of your depth, find a moment to pause and ask yourself whether losing control of something might actually be a gain for your business. If it is, then consider the following….
- Am I approaching delegation as a necessary evil or as an opportunity to harness the skills of my team?
- Am I clear on what I need to delegate?
- Do I trust the person I’m delegating to?
- Are they clear on the outcome needed?
- Have I given them space to find their own solutions?
- Am I empowering them with the right questions, or stifling them with answers?
If delegation continues to be a sticking point for you, then consider joining one of our FounderCircles® to benefit from the experience of others and hear how they approached similar challenges.
The power in knowing your body and mind
The simple questions that can set you free as a startup leader
The empowering delegation blueprint
Sources
Gallup Article – Delegating: A Huge Management Challenge for Entrepreneurs
