The Real Problem Isn’t Your Team—It’s You

In growing teams, the biggest slowdown isn’t lack of talent. It’s the leader.

You may not see it at first. You’re involved in every decision. You review every project. You run every meeting. It feels like you’re keeping things moving. But really, you’re holding things up.

You’ve become the bottleneck.

According to Gallup, only 21% of employees strongly agree their performance is managed in a way that motivates them. When everything has to go through one person, nobody feels empowered. Progress gets stuck. Morale drops. Good people leave.

How Leaders Become the Bottleneck

It starts small. You hire one person. You train them. You check their work. It makes sense—early on, everything’s fragile.

But then you hire more people. And keep checking everyone’s work. You stay involved in everything because you don’t want mistakes. You think you’re protecting the quality.

You’re not. You’re slowing it all down.

You say things like:

• “Run that by me first.”
  
• “Let’s wait until I’m back.”
  
• “Copy me on everything.”

Suddenly, you’re making decisions for a team of 10. You’re not leading—you’re micromanaging at scale.

What It Looks Like in Real Life

Bradley Hisle, founder of Pinnacle Health Group, used to think control was leadership. “I was in every meeting. Every decision hit my desk,” he said. “I thought I was being helpful, but the team couldn’t breathe.”

He changed course when he realized projects stalled when he wasn’t available. “That was the wake-up call,” he said. “They weren’t slow. I was just always in the way.”

The Hidden Costs of Being a Bottleneck

When leaders stay in the middle of everything, a few things happen:

• Decisions get delayed. The team waits instead of acting.
  
• People stop thinking for themselves. They ask before trying.
  
• Workload piles up. You become the busiest person in the company.
  
• Trust breaks down. Teams feel like they aren’t trusted to lead.

It also kills scale. You can’t grow if every new task lands on your plate.

How to Spot It Early

Here are signs you’ve become the bottleneck:

• You’re the only one with full access or authority.
  
• You review or approve more than 80% of decisions.
  
• Your team asks for input on things they should own.
  
• You feel busy, but not strategic.
  
• You can’t take time off without chaos.

If you nodded at more than two of those, it’s time to step back.

Step 1: Define Ownership Clearly

People don’t take action when they’re unsure who’s responsible. Start with job clarity.

For every team member, write down:

• What they own
  
• What they decide
  
• When they should loop you in

Make this a working document. Update it often. Share it openly.

Bad: “You manage social.”
 Better: “You own weekly posts, monthly reports, and campaign testing. You approve everything under $500. Escalate if performance drops below 20% engagement.”

Step 2: Build Decision Frameworks

You don’t need to be the decision-maker. You need to set rules so others can decide confidently.

Use this simple rule:

• Green Light: Low risk, small budget → Decide now.
  
• Yellow Light: Medium risk or cross-team impact → Check in.
  
• Red Light: High risk or high cost → Escalate.

Put this in writing. Make it part of onboarding. Talk about it weekly.

Step 3: Create Systems That Run Without You

Every time someone asks you how to do something, write the answer down. That’s now a process.

Start with:

• Onboarding
  
• Hiring
  
• Client handoff
  
• Payment follow-up
  
• Weekly reporting

Use Google Docs, Notion, or a shared folder. No fancy tools required. The goal is that anyone on the team can follow it without needing your input.

Step 4: Let Go and Test

Now for the hard part—step back.

Pick one process. Hand it off completely. Don’t check in. Don’t review. Let the team run it for a week.

Then review what worked, what broke, and what can be improved.

Do this every month with a new area until you’re no longer the center.

Step 5: Redefine Your Role

Once your team can run on their own, your role changes. You go from doer to builder.

Shift your focus to:

• Coaching team leads
  
• Improving systems
  
• Setting vision and goals
  
• Removing blockers

If you’re still reviewing every deliverable, you haven’t fully stepped into leadership. You’re still managing.

Data That Supports Letting Go

A McKinsey report found that companies with clear decision-making roles are 95% more effective at delivering on business objectives.

Another report by Asana shows that 60% of workers waste time due to unclear priorities and overlapping responsibilities—both caused by weak structure from leadership.

The more you clarify and empower, the faster the team moves.

Action Plan for Busy Leaders

Week 1

• Identify two areas where you approve too much.
  
• Pick one to hand off.

Week 2

• Create a checklist or SOP for that task.
  
• Assign ownership to a team member.

Week 3

• Stop touching that task. Let it run.
  
• Have a check-in meeting at the end of the week.

Week 4

• Gather feedback. Adjust the process.
  
• Pick your next area to delegate. Repeat.

Being in the middle feels productive—but it kills momentum.

The best leaders don’t run the whole machine. They build the machine.

Like Bradley Hisle said, “I wasn’t burned out because the team was slow—I was burned out because I never gave them the room to lead.”

Let go. Set structure. Then watch your team do what you hired them to do. That’s real leadership.