Most leaders don’t burn out because they’re lazy or incapable, they burn out because they’re trying to carry everything themselves.
It feels noble at first…answering every email, reviewing every document, making every decision, but over time it turns you into something dangerous: the bottleneck.
3 Signs You Might Be the Bottleneck
1. Work slows whenever you’re unavailable.
If projects grind to a halt when you’re in meetings or on vacation, you’ve made yourself indispensable in the wrong way.
2. People bring tasks back to you because “it’s faster if you do it.”
This often feels like efficiency, but it’s actually dependency. You’re solving today’s problem while guaranteeing tomorrow’s overload.
3. Progress stalls waiting for your approval.
If your team is conditioned to pause at every step until you sign off, you’re training them to wait instead of act.
A Real-World Example
I once coached a project manager whose team would literally stop mid-task if she wasn’t available. They didn’t lack skill, they lacked permission. Without her explicit sign-off, they feared “doing it wrong.”
The result? Hours of productivity lost every week, growing frustration among team members, and a leader who was exhausted, overwhelmed, and constantly behind.
The Simple Bottleneck Test
Here’s a quick way to find out if this is happening to you:
Ask yourself, “If I disappeared for three days, what would grind to a halt?”
Whatever your answer is, you’ve found your bottleneck.
The Way Forward: Delegation
The good news? Bottlenecks aren’t permanent. They’re the natural outcome of unclear delegation.
When you delegate effectively (not just assigning tasks, but transferring both responsibility and authority) you create three wins at once:
- You free yourself to focus on the work only you can do.
- Your team grows in capability, confidence, and engagement.
- Your organization gains speed and resilience.
From Bottleneck to Builder
Delegation is the bridge between where you are and where you want to be as a leader. It’s not about losing control. It’s about building trust and multiplying your impact.
That’s why I wrote Delegate Smarter, Lead Better: Build Capable Teams That Deliver. It’s a practical playbook filled with frameworks, examples, and tools to help leaders like you move from bottleneck to builder.
📘 You can grab your copy here: Delegate Smarter, Lead Better
deliberatedevelopment.org 