The Delegation Trap: How You’re Secretly Staying Stuck
Most consultancy owners think they’re delegating.
They’re not.
They’re distributing tasks.
And there’s a big difference.
On the surface, it looks like you’re empowering the team.
You’ve handed off the work.
You’ve given directions.
You’re not “doing everything” anymore.
But behind the scenes?
Decisions still run through you.
Approvals.
Client emails.
Invoices.
Final sign-offs.
“Just check with me before it goes out.”
And that one sentence quietly keeps you as the bottleneck.
This is why so many consultancy owners feel busy, interrupted, and stuck — even with a good team around them.
It’s not that the team isn’t capable.
It’s that authority never actually moved to them.
If decisions still live with you, you haven’t actually delegated.
You’ve just given the team “stuff” to do – with no real ownership.
In this week’s podcast episode, I break down:
- Why most acts of delegation fail
- How founders unknowingly stay in control while pretending to let go
- And what real delegation looks like if you want time back without standards slipping
Including a practical example from a Boardroom client, Reuben, who shifted ownership properly before making his next hire — and immediately freed up email, invoicing, marketing workflows and internal documentation without chaos.
Click Here to watch the video.
Click Here to listen to the full episode.
One question to sit with this week:
Where decisions are still defaulting back to me — and what would have to change for that to stop?
To your success,
Josh
PS: If you’re interested, here are 4 ways I can help you right now:
- Grab a copy of my new book | Profitable Engineering Consultant | 9 strategies to grow with confidence, get your time back & consistently hit 30% plus net profit margins – Click Here
- Subscribe to our podcast | Learn how to run a more profitable consultancy and grow successfully – no fluff, just actionable and practical advice from someone who grew a consultancy to $30M and exited successfully – Watch Here or Listen Here + make sure you subscribe!
- Download our free Business Plan template | Map out your Business Plan & grow your consultancy with confidence – Click Here to download now
- Book a 20-minute Business Audit Call | We’ll do a full review & audit of your business, uncover the #1 bottleneck that's holding you back right now & develop a 3-step action plan together for how you can get results faster. You'll leave this call with a clear and actionable plan for what to do next in your business – Book Here
