Hey Reader,
Every couple of weeks, you get a little piece of advice or a story (or as I like to call them - little love notes) from me packed with founder-tested insights, behind-the-scenes lessons, and simple strategies to help you lead with more clarity, calm, and intention.
If you’ve been here a while - thank you.
And if this is your first edition - welcooome! Grab your favorite drink, take a breath, and let’s get into it. Today we are talking about Bob - a start-up founder who was losing two days a week and what we did so he can gain control again.
The Slow Creep of Overwhelm
Founders rarely burn out because of one dramatic crisis, it’s almost never the single catastrophic event that pushes them over the edge. More often, it’s something quieter, almost invisible and it is the slow, steady accumulation of small interruptions, each one harmless enough on its own, yet collectively capable of derailing momentum, clouding judgment, and draining energy until there’s nothing left for the work that actually moves the business forward.
It starts innocently enough. A “quick” email that was supposed to take two minutes turns into twenty. A Slack ping interrupts your deep work, just long enough to break your focus. Someone adds a meeting to your calendar, squeezing out the time you’d planned for strategic thinking. None of these moments feel like much in isolation, but stacked together, they pull you away from steering the business and trap you in the weeds of running it.
When I write about these things, I always think about a founder that I’ve worked with. Let’s call him Bob (to protect his identity). When I first came in to work with him, I could feel and see that Bob is on the edge. He was easy and quick to snap at people, he was micromanaging everyone and he was barely keeping it together. Instantly I started getting complaints that the teams are dissatisfied with how he treats them. And it was the SLOW period, it was summer.
So one day we talked about what he was experiencing and we agreed that I will take over the operational part of the business, as well as work with the teams so he can focus on what really matters for him. A couple of weeks after he removed himself from the small things, he became calmer, happier and sharper…the overwhelm was no more.
When Involvement Turns Into a Bottleneck
I get it. In the early stages, being close to every detail can feel not just necessary, but good. You tell yourself it’s about protecting quality, keeping an eye on execution, making sure nothing slips. But over time, the truth surfaces: the more you involve yourself in the small things, the less time you have for the big things, the ones that only you can do.
This is the quiet shift from architect to bottleneck. I’ve seen founders with sharp vision and huge ambition lose months, even years to the tyranny of the “little stuff” (remember Bob?). And it’s not because their teams aren’t capable; it’s because the systems haven’t been built to allow the founder to let go.
But let me tell you something. The leaders who avoid this trap don’t step back by accident, they design for it. They put structures in place so their teams can move forward without constant intervention. They define decision rights, make processes visible, and build reporting that tells them what’s happening without requiring them to be in every room.
This isn’t about detachment; it’s about trust backed by clarity. When you replace micromanagement with strong systems, you free both yourself and your team to operate at their best.
A Real-World Shift
When I was working with Bob, he was spending more than 50% of his week on tasks his sales leadership team should have been handling. See, the team wasn’t lazy or disengaged, they were overwhelmed. Bob was also overwhelmed. So what we did next was that we defined bottlenecks, created a plan and started following through. The pressure released on both sides.
By re-engineering decision pathways and introducing a weekly leadership sync, Bob reclaimed two full days per week for high-impact work within a month. Execution sped up, the team became more confident, and he could finally focus on growth without fearing things would fall apart.
Your Reflection for the Week
If you’re reading this and recognizing yourself, here’s something to think about: What’s one decision you made in the past seven days that someone else could have handled if they had the clarity, tools, and trust to do it?
That’s your starting point. Build from there.
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Until next time,
Best,
