You Hired Great People. So Why Can't You Step Away
The Challenge
You hired experienced people. Your VP of Operations has run more projects than you can count. Your Chief Estimator is an expert in bidding. Your Project Executives have decades in the field. These aren't junior hires learning the ropes. They're seasoned professionals who should be running things without you.
And yet here you are, still in every weekly operations meeting. Still reviewing every detail in bids. Still being the final call on decisions, your leadership team should own. Maybe they're as capable as you think they are, or maybe something's missing that you can't quite see. Either way, they keep coming back to you for answers on things that shouldn't need your input, and you can't figure out why.
The calendar tells the truth. Sixty hours a week in the weeds when you should be focused on where this company is headed. You tell yourself they need one more quarter to get there, but that quarter keeps extending. You want to believe they're ready, but something stops you from fully stepping back. You can't put your finger on what's actually missing, whether it's in them or in you, and that confusion is exhausting.
The Impact
This inability to let go is expensive in ways that don't show up on a financial statement. Sure, you can point to the opportunity cost of your time. Every hour you spend in an operations meeting is an hour you're not pursuing that strategic partnership or planning your next market expansion. But the real cost runs deeper than that.
Your senior leaders have stopped bringing you solutions because they've learned you'll just make the decision anyway. They've become order takers instead of owners, and you resent them for it even though you created the dynamic. The talented Project Manager you were grooming for director level work just took a job with your competitor because they could see there was no real path up as long as you're in everything. Your executive team doesn't challenge each other in meetings anymore because they're all waiting to see what you think first.
The culture you're building is one of permission instead of ownership. People wait instead of acting. They bring problems instead of solutions. They protect themselves instead of taking smart risks. And worst of all, you're becoming the bottleneck to your own growth. You can't take on that next big project because you don't trust your team to deliver it without you. You can't pursue that acquisition opportunity because you're too buried in operations to even think strategically. The business has grown to a size where it needs a real CEO, but you're still playing the role of Super Project Manager.
Meanwhile, the weight of it all is crushing you. You're exhausted, but you can't stop. You're frustrated, but you can't delegate. You're successful, but you can't scale. And the worst part is the isolation. You can't admit to your team that you don't trust them because that would destroy morale. You can't admit to your spouse that you're afraid of what happens if you step back because that sounds weak. So you keep grinding, keep controlling, and keep wondering why the company you built is starting to feel like a prison.
The Shift
The path forward starts with getting brutally honest about what you actually need to see before you can let go. Not vague feelings, but specific proof points. Sit down this week and write out your answer to this question: What would have to be true for me to fully trust my operations team for ninety days without my involvement? Get specific. Is it six consecutive months of gross profit margins above a certain percentage? Is it zero safety incidents? Is it seeing them successfully handle a client crisis without you, maybe two? Is it watching them run a project meeting and come out with alignment? Whatever it is, write it down. Make sure you can clearly measure its success. The fear loses power when you name it specifically.
Then do the hard work of answering why you haven't already built the systems that would give you that proof. If you need to see consistent margin performance, do you have weekly leading indicators that show you where margins are trending before the job closes? If you need to trust their decision-making, have you explicitly defined what decisions they own versus what needs your approval? Most owners discover they've never actually built the confidence infrastructure that would let them step back safely. You're trying to let go of a rope you never properly secured. No wonder you can't release your grip.
EX: Can your VP approve subcontractor changes under fifty thousand without calling you? Can your Chief Estimator submit bids under two million without your final review? If you haven't drawn those lines explicitly, you're keeping them in limbo.
The shift happens when you stop asking your people to prove themselves and start asking yourself what you need to believe it's safe to step away. Then you build those systems, set a ninety-day timeline, and commit to stepping back even when it feels uncomfortable. Confidence doesn't come before you let go. It comes after. You build trust by practising trust, not by waiting until trust feels easy.
The Closing
Your business will never scale past your personal capacity until you do the internal work of figuring out what's keeping you from stepping back. This isn't about your people getting better. This is about you getting clear on what you need, building it, and then having the courage to trust it. The companies that break through to the next level are led by owners who have made this shift. They stopped being the hero in every story and started being the author of a story bigger than themselves. That transition is uncomfortable, and it requires you to let go of the role that got you here. But on the other side of that discomfort is a business that works without you being in everything, a team that truly owns their domains, and a version of yourself that's finally doing the work only you can do. Your people might already be ready. The question is whether you're ready to believe it.
Gerard Aliberti
Pro-Accel,
Owner
- If you're realising you're the one standing in the way of your own growth, let's talk. Executive coaching helps construction leaders do the internal work required to let go with confidence. Reach out to jerry@pro-accel.com to schedule a call and discuss what's really keeping you stuck.
- Enjoying this newsletter? Please pass it along to your colleagues and friends, and have them sign up here: https://www.pro-accel.com/#Newsletter
- If you like Jerry's insights, follow him on LinkedIn here linkedin.com/in/jerry-aliberti
