"Nothing will work unless you do." - Maya Angelou

Introduction:

You keep hiring. You keep adding tools. And you're still the last stop before anything moves.

More help will not fix this. If everything waits for your approval, you don't have a workload problem. You are the bottleneck, and that is good news, because you are also the one who can change it.

With that said, here are 5 signs it's you, not the workload. 👊

1. Your team waits on you before they move

Watch how many messages start with "Just checking before I..." Each one is a small vote that your approval is required.

2. You're the answer to every question

If people come to you because it's faster than thinking it through, you trained them to. That's a habit, and habits can be rebuilt.

3. Your calendar is full of meetings you don't need to be in

You attend to stay in control. Every seat you hold is a seat your team can't grow into.

4. Your best weeks are the ones where you fixed everything

Being needed feels like being valuable. It is not the same thing, and it is costing you your strategy time.

5. You can't take a week off without checking in

If the company can't run for seven days without you, the business owns you, not the other way around.

Your quick checklist:

• Count how many decisions you made yesterday that someone else could have made

• Pick the top three and name who should own them

• Tell your team out loud what they no longer need to ask you

• Block one hour a week for thinking, not doing

• Review in 30 days