Hey there,
How’s your week been?
Now, there’s a phrase I keep hearing from managers - and I’ve definitely said it myself: “Nobody does it as well as me.”
Oof. Every manager’s favourite lie.
One manager told me recently: “If my exec does it, it’ll only be 80% as good as when I do it.”
But here’s the thing: clinging on to those tasks isn’t really about quality. It’s about comfort. We stick with them because they feel safe and give us those little dopamine hits.
- Writing emails? Easy tick.
- Updating spreadsheets? Satisfying.
- Having difficult conversations or setting direction? Not so much.
The problem? Perfectionism has a double cost.
1. Your energy is finite - and every hour you spend polishing the small stuff is an hour you’re not putting into the strategic, higher-value work that only you can do.
2. Your team’s growth stalls - because if you’re always the one “fixing” or “perfecting,” they never get the chance to stretch, learn and step up. You end up exhausted. They end up underdeveloped. The business ends up stuck.
It’s something we see so often that we built a dedicated 2-hour session on delegation within our Managing with Impact programme. In it, we explore why managers aren’t delegating (spoiler: it’s usually a you thing), then dig into frameworks that help leaders work out who to delegate to and how to do it effectively.
It’s honestly one of my favourite sessions to run - I was delivering it only yesterday with one of our wonderful clients, and there are always so many lightbulb moments when managers realise just how much they’re holding themselves (and their teams) back.
So here’s my challenge for you next week:
- Track your tasks for one day. Write down everything you do.
- Circle the ones only you can do. Be brutally honest - it’ll be fewer than you think.
- Pick one task to delegate. Decide who could take it on and how much guidance they’ll need - do you tell, guide, collaborate, or hand over ownership?
Because your role isn’t to do it all, it’s to grow the people who can.
Have a fabulous week!
With love,
Cate x
Hey there,
How’s your week been?
Now, there’s a phrase I keep hearing from managers - and I’ve definitely said it myself: “Nobody does it as well as me.”
Oof. Every manager’s favourite lie.
One manager told me recently: “If my exec does it, it’ll only be 80% as good as when I do it.”
But here’s the thing: clinging on to those tasks isn’t really about quality. It’s about comfort. We stick with them because they feel safe and give us those little dopamine hits.
- Writing emails? Easy tick.
- Updating spreadsheets? Satisfying.
- Having difficult conversations or setting direction? Not so much.
The problem? Perfectionism has a double cost.
1. Your energy is finite - and every hour you spend polishing the small stuff is an hour you’re not putting into the strategic, higher-value work that only you can do.
2. Your team’s growth stalls - because if you’re always the one “fixing” or “perfecting,” they never get the chance to stretch, learn and step up. You end up exhausted. They end up underdeveloped. The business ends up stuck.
It’s something we see so often that we built a dedicated 2-hour session on delegation within our Managing with Impact programme. In it, we explore why managers aren’t delegating (spoiler: it’s usually a you thing), then dig into frameworks that help leaders work out who to delegate to and how to do it effectively.
It’s honestly one of my favourite sessions to run - I was delivering it only yesterday with one of our wonderful clients, and there are always so many lightbulb moments when managers realise just how much they’re holding themselves (and their teams) back.
So here’s my challenge for you next week:
- Track your tasks for one day. Write down everything you do.
- Circle the ones only you can do. Be brutally honest - it’ll be fewer than you think.
- Pick one task to delegate. Decide who could take it on and how much guidance they’ll need - do you tell, guide, collaborate, or hand over ownership?
Because your role isn’t to do it all, it’s to grow the people who can.
Have a fabulous week!
With love,
Cate x
