Originally published 2017 | Rewritten with deeper clarity in 2025
By Mike Kotsis
One of my clients almost lost the business he spent years building.
He owned a semi-truck dealership and had grown it through sheer force of will—long hours, hard work, and the belief that if something needed to be done right, he had to do it himself. That approach worked for a time. But eventually, the business outgrew him.
No matter how hard he pushed, he couldn’t carry it all anymore. He was spread too thin. Projects stalled. People were confused. The company, once growing, began to lose its footing.
Why? Because he hadn’t yet made the shift from doing it all to leading through others. He was still clinging to the belief that being responsible meant staying involved in everything.
But here’s what I’ve seen again and again—
Letting go is not abandonment. It’s leadership.
You Are Not Your Company
As a business grows, many founders unconsciously fuse their identity with their company. The boundaries blur.
“If I’m not involved, I’m not needed.”
“If something goes wrong, it’s on me.”
“If I let go, it might all fall apart.”
I work with leaders to unpack these stories. Because underneath the struggle to delegate is rarely a systems issue—it’s a self-worth issue.
Your value doesn’t come from being the busiest person in the company.
Your leadership isn’t measured by how many things you control.
And your business doesn’t need you in every role—it needs you in the right role.
True Leadership Begins with Trust
Letting go doesn’t mean checking out. It means creating a culture of clarity and ownership.
Yes, your team will do things differently than you would—and that’s exactly what allows your company to grow beyond your limitations.
The shift begins when you:
- Clarify roles and expectations
- Offer real accountability
- Give others the freedom to own their work
When my client finally let go of certain departments and empowered his Service and Parts leaders to lead, the business didn’t fall apart—it soared. They broke sales and profit records. His team grew stronger. He found more space to focus on the future, and more presence with the people he loved.
It wasn’t just a strategic win. It was a personal transformation.
What You’re Really After
In my deep 1×1 Freedom Coaching work, business owners often come in wanting more growth. But what they’re really craving—sometimes without even knowing it—is freedom.
Not just time, money, or purpose freedom.
Freedom from the pressure to prove.
Freedom from rescuing everyone.
Freedom from needing to be everything to everyone.
That kind of freedom comes from within.
It comes when you shift from reaction to presence.
When you lead from clarity, not control.
When you stop tying your value to your role—and start creating from your vision.
What Are You Still Carrying?
If you feel the weight of your business pressing down on you, consider:
- What responsibilities am I still clinging to out of fear?
- Where am I rescuing instead of trusting?
- What story about leadership am I ready to outgrow?
Letting go doesn’t mean you care less.
It means you trust more.
And the moment you begin to trust—your team, your structure, yourself—is the moment everything starts to shift.
You don’t have to carry it all anymore.
Tools to Help Let Go and Delegate
It’s a lot easier to let go of the vine when you have some great tools you can implement. Here are a few of the best tools I’ve seen for delegating responsibilities.
- Delegate and Elevate Tool™—The Delegate and Elevate Tool helps you free up your time and take the weight of the world off your shoulders. It’ll identify the work you love to do and excel at, and the kind of work you should offload onto someone else.
- The NEW One-Minute Manager—I highly recommend this book, which is a must-read for anyone in a management or leadership position.
- The Accountability Chart™—If your organization isn’t structured in the simplest and most effective way, you’re creating extra work for yourself and probably hiring redundant positions. The EOS Accountability Chart helps you understand your company’s structural needs so that the right people are doing the right work.
- The People Analyzer™—This tool helps leadership teams assess the quality of the employees they have in a fair and consistent manner. Cultivating your employees is critical to effective delegation.
- Outsourcing services—Often, you can outsource certain tasks to free up your staff to focus on their core responsibilities. These services can save money as well as time, because their fees are less than the cost of paying your employees to do the same work.
- Phone answering services can help you reach your business goals by making your communication more efficient (and often, more professional)
- Virtual receptionists provide concierge administrative services that allow your staff to focus on their core work
- Marketing agencies allow you to reach the next level of success without hiring an entire fleet of in-house staff.