Stop doing everything: how to delegate and train your team

Executive overview

Doing work yourself doesn't scale. Your job as a leader is to get results through people, not to be the one executing.

Training doesn't require stopping your day. It can happen while you work — someone rides shotgun, watches a Loom, asks questions over lunch.

The only work you should own is what genuinely cannot be delegated — everything else is a failure to lead.

Why leaders keep doing work themselves

• Speed is the trap: you can knock it out fast, so you do
• "Bob doesn't have the skills" is the easy way out, not a real constraint
• Each task you keep is a task your team never learns

How to train without stopping your work

• Have someone sit and observe you as you do the work
• Record a Loom with screen share and narration
• Let them ride shotgun, then answer questions over lunch or in passing
• Train incrementally as you go — it doesn't need to be a formal session

What true delegation looks like

• Identify who could own the project, even if they're not ready yet
• Invest in getting them ready rather than keeping the task yourself
• Some work cannot be delegated (e.g. your unique expertise, live Q&A) — that's fine
• Everything else should be off your plate or on a path to it
• Co-hosts, interviewers, podcast guests — all can be handled by others