Power tip: "Real delegation starts with micromanagement", Linda van Egmond
“If delegation doesn’t feel like micromanagement at first, you’re doing it wrong.”
Transcript
Ryan Castle: You’re listening to Level 10 Leaders Power Tips, and I’m your host, Ryan Castle. Today’s tip comes from Linda van Egmond, fractional CMO and integrator. Linda’s Power Tip is on this idea: real delegation starts with micromanagement. Let’s dive in.
Linda van Egmond: Here’s a quick test. Close your laptop, or just imagine doing that, and don’t open it again until tomorrow at 9am. What happens? Do client questions pile up unanswered? Does your team just wait? Do deadlines get missed because no one can make a call without you?
If you answered yes to any of those, and look, I hate to say this, but you don’t have a business. You have an expensive job. And this isn’t a motivation problem. It’s not even really a delegation problem. It’s a structure problem.
Most founders I work with have tried delegation. They handed something off. It came back wrong. They spent more time fixing it than doing it themselves. So they pulled it back and thought, “Never again. It’s faster if I just do it myself.”
But here’s what’s true everywhere, from early-stage startups to global scale-ups. The ones who grow without burning out aren’t superhuman. They don’t have better teams. They just have a better method. Delegation isn’t letting go all at once. It’s letting go step by step.
Think about teaching someone to drive. You don’t just throw them the keys and say, “Good luck.” You explain. You demonstrate. You let them practice while you’re there. You give feedback. Only then do you gradually let them go solo. Delegation works exactly the same way.
There are five stages. First, define success. Spell out what the outcome looks like. What’s non-negotiable? Where do they have freedom? Don’t keep this in your head. Make it explicit. Second, model it. Show them how you do it. Screen share. Walk through it. Talk through what you’re thinking. Record it if you can, so you can reference it later.
Third, coach with a safety net. Let them try it while you’re there to catch them. They check in at key milestones. You review before it goes live. You give specific feedback, not just “this is wrong,” but “here’s why” and “here’s how to fix it.”
Fourth is a partial handover. They own execution now. You review the output. Check-ins shift from during to after. You’re doing quality control, not hands-on work. Stage five is full handover. It’s theirs. They report on results, not every action. You spot-check occasionally, but you trust by default.
And I know what you’re thinking. “It takes longer to explain than to just do it myself.” You’re right. It does take longer today. But if you spend 30 minutes explaining something now, and that saves you 30 minutes every week from now on, that’s 42 times returned in a year. That’s not a cost. It’s an investment.
So if delegation has failed before, it probably wasn’t your team. You just skipped a few steps. You went from “here’s what I need” straight to “why didn’t you do it right?” The missing piece is the middle. The practice runs. The safety nets. The gradual handover. That’s where the magic lies.
That’s why I always say: if delegation doesn’t feel like micromanagement at first, you’re doing it wrong. Happy delegating.
Ryan Castle: Thanks, Linda. To connect with Linda, go to level10.us/16. While you’re there, be sure to check out more Power Tips. And thanks for listening.
