Why Founders Stay Trapped in the Day-to-Day
Founders don’t usually say “I’m stuck in the weeds.” They show it in the way they talk about their business.
They say things like, “I’ve tried handing that off before and it always comes back to me.” Or “My team is okay, but no one’s really stepping up.”
Sometimes, the language is even more revealing:
- “I could never hand that off.”
- “We’ve never done it that way.”
- “I don’t want to manage people.”
It doesn’t always sound like fear, but it is. Fear of losing control. Fear of letting things fall apart. Fear of building the wrong thing.
And most of the time, that fear is grounded in real experience. They’ve handed something off before and it has come back to them. Their team hasn’t stepped up. So they take it all back (and stay in the center of everything.)
Why this shift is non-negotiable
Solopreneurs adapt. They hustle. They improvise. And in the early stages? That’s exactly what’s needed.
But as your business grows, the game changes. And the rules that once kept things afloat, jumping in, reacting fast, owning every detail, start to work against you.
Here’s what happens if you don’t evolve:
- You hit decision fatigue because everything requires your stamp of approval
- You create a culture of reactivity instead of ownership
- You continue to be pulled in too many directions to lead strategically
You know this isn’t sustainable. But when every hour feels urgent, pausing to equip your team sounds like a luxury you don’t have time for.
That’s the trap: you’re too busy keeping your head above water to redesign what’s no longer working.
The good news? You don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. But you MUST shift how you lead.
Three shifts that move you from solopreneur to CEO
Shift 1: From Solving Problems → to Coaching Others to Solve Them
Founders are fixers. It’s instinctive. You’ve solved your way out of every stuck place before. But as a CEO, your role isn’t to solve, it’s to teach others how to.
Try this: The next time a team member asks, “What should I do?” don’t give a direct answer. Ask, “What do you think we should do here?”
Give them space to process, propose, and own the solution. If the answer’s wrong, coach them. If it’s almost there, refine it with them. If it’s great, celebrate how well they’ve done.
Over time, you build thinkers. Not just doers.
Shift 2: From Default Owner → to Designed Ownership
If your default response is still “I’ll take care of it,” you’re training your team to hand things back to you.
Stop.
Start asking, “Who owns this?” or “Who wants to lead this piece?”
Ownership doesn’t just happen on its own. It has to be intentionally structured. Build roles around outcomes, not task lists. Give your team clarity around what they’re responsible for and why it matters.
Shift 3: From Managing Work → Designing the Flow of Work
You don’t need to manage every task. You need to design the systems that move the work forward without you.
That means:
- Weekly rhythms that surface stuck points before they explode
- Clear expectations around how updates are shared
- SOPs that make delegation consistent and repeatable
Managing work is reactive. Designing workflows is proactive.
(If you need help with this, send us a message!)
Your CEO practice plan: Try this
Here’s how to begin making this shift right away:
Step 1: Identify one place you usually jump in to save the day. A client deliverable? A handoff? A decision?
Step 2: Pause. Ask your team member, “How would you handle this?”
Step 3: Practice reframing in real time:
- Instead of “I’ll fix it,” ask “What’s your recommendation?”
- Instead of popping into Slack to micromanage, batch responses and clarify next steps once a day
- Instead of rewriting the SOP, invite your team to draft the first version for your review
You don’t need to step out completely. You just need to stop stepping in by default.
This is the work of becoming a CEO: building systems, building people, and building the trust that lets you lead without being everywhere at once.
