Latest / Your Dream Coach Podcast / The Bottleneck Test: 7 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown How You Lead It
Transcript
- Your Dream Coach Podcast: Your business didn't stop growing because of the market, your team, or your competition. It might have stopped growing because it's outgrown the way you're leading it. So today I'm giving you a seven question test to find out. So grab a pen. And I want to welcome you to today's episode of your Dream Coach podcast. I'm your host, Shayla Wei. And before we start, a quick reminder: my first book, Dream Bigger, Lead Better, launches December 1st. And this exact conversation, building a business that can grow beyond you, is at of it. You can join the launch list that is in the show notes. Well this episode is the one I wish every business owner I would meet would listen to. Because the most common problem I see isn't a lack of ambition, effort, or talent. It's that the business has grown and the leader is still leading it the way they did when it was smaller. And on your dream coach podcast, this is where leadership, fulfillment, and growth aren't three different goals. They're one. And I help entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders dream bigger So they can lead better and build the vision, the sales, and the systems to get there, growing the business and the person running it. So today I'm gonna walk you through the seven signs that you've become the bottleneck, share how I had to work through this myself, and just give you a 30-day reset to start leading the business you have now, not the one that you started. So I wanna start by talking about the hidden ceiling. And here's what sometimes nobody tells you when you start a business: the things that got you here are often the exact same things that will hold you back. In the early days, you had to do everything. You were the seller, the operator, the problem solver, and the person who knew where everything was. That made you successful. But at some point, that same strength becomes the ceiling. Every decision runs through you, every problem lands on your desk. And the business can only grow as fast as you can personally move. And that's not a character flaw, it's a stage. And the good news is that every stage can be outgrown. So let's go through the seven signs. You can score yourself as we go. Give yourself one point for every sign that feels true. So sign number one is things stall when you're away. You take a few days off and decisions wait, sales slow, or your phone does not stop ringing. Sign number two is you're the answer to most questions. Your team comes to you for things they could figure out because you've always been the one who just knows. Sign number three is that you're still doing tasks you should have handed off years ago. And you know it. You just haven't had time to train anyone. And so what is exactly, which which is exactly the problem, right? And so we wanna, we wanna really think about that. Number four is your best people are underused. You've hired talented people, but they're waiting on you instead of really owning outcomes. Sign number five is you're busy but not building. And so your days are full of urgent things and the important work strategy vision, developing leaders keeps getting pushed to someday. Sign number six is that growth feels heavier, not exciting. Every new client or hire feels like more weight on your shoulders instead of more momentum. And then sign number seven is that you've lost touch with why you started. You're so deep in the how that you can't remember the last time you thought about the dream. So how did you score? If you said yes to three or more, your business has likely outgrown how you're leading it. And honestly, that's a really great problem to have. It means you've built something real. Now I have been the bottleneck more than once. When my business was growing, I struggled to let it go. I promoted my right-hand person into a bigger role, and I actually felt guilty about it. Guilty about delegating, guilty about receiving help. Like I was supposed to carry it all myself. And so what changed everything for me was a simple shift. Instead of asking, how do I get all of this done? I started asking, who could own this? We all get the same 168 hours in a week. The leaders who aren't gro who are aren't working more hours, right? Leaders who grow, I should say, are not working more hours. They're multiplying their hours through other people. And so I started looking at my tasks and asking what each one was really worth per hour. And I started building roles as if they already existed, writing them down before I hired instead of shaping roles around whoever was convenient. And now I see the same fear of delegation in almost every client I coach. And so I worked with a law firm that's a great example of this. When we started, they had two partners and 16 lawyers. And the partners were brilliant, but so much still ran through them. And so today they now have four partners and 60 lawyers. And that growth didn't come from the partners working harder. It came from them leading differently, building leaders, clarifying roles, and letting go of what didn't need to be theirs any s anymore. So how do we go from how to who? Well, if you're feeling like the bottleneck, here's the mindset shift I want you to take with you. Is your job is no longer to be the best doer in the business. Your job is to build the people, the systems, and the vision that let the business grow without everything running through you. And that's scary because a lot of our identity is tied up in being needed. But being needed and being valuable are not the same thing. The most valuable leaders build businesses that need Less time. So let's talk about the 30-day bottleneck reset. And here's how to start. Is week one is I want you to just to track it. For one week, write down every time someone comes to you with a question or a decision. Don't change anything, just notice. In week two, we want to sort it. So look at your list and sort each item. Only I can do this, or someone could do this with training, and someone could do this right now. Week three. Hand off one thing. Pick the item that drains you most and that someone could do with training. Write down how you do it, train them, and just let them own it. And it won't be perfect. And that's okay. And in week four, reclaim the time. Take the hours you got back and spend them on what only you can do: vision, strategy, developing your leaders. And yes. Dreaming bigger about where this is all going. So your challenge this week is to share your score. How many of the seven signs did you check? And then start week one. And if you want the full roadmap for growing a business beyond you, that's what the book Dream Bigger Lead Better is all about. It launches December 1st. You can join the launch list. And if this episode helped, it would mean the world if you'd support the show. On Apple Podcasts, leave a rating and a review. On Spotify, hit follow and give it a rating. And on YouTube, drop your score in the comments. I read every single one. Remember to keep dreaming bigger so that you can lead better. I'll see you next time on your dream coach podcast.