The art of letting go

Last Eid-ul-Azha, I watched my mama in Banani decide he would handle the entire qurbani himself: choosing the cow, doing the paperwork, collecting the cash, sending out the cuts, even cooking the curry while wearing a whistle for some reason. He called his AI-generated spreadsheet "Operation Big Beef" and claimed it would solve world peace. Two hours later, the butcher walked out, the kidneys were missing, and a six-year-old was named "Head of Distribution" simply because he held the only clean bowl. When I elbowed him to delegate, he nodded, gave me the whistle to keep, and said, "I'll delegate watching the work."

In her recent HBR article "Why Aren't I Better at Delegating?" Elsbeth Johnson outlines four common traps leaders fall into: holding on to work because it feels part of their identity, fearing others won't deliver the same quality, giving unclear briefs that cause rework, and believing "it's faster if I do it myself." These habits make leaders busy but not effective. Her core message: real leadership means setting clear outcomes, giving people what they need, trusting them to deliver, and resisting the urge to hover.

Many of us confuse "poster work" with leadership. We still worship the boss who approves every Facebook post, the founder who personally signs every tea bill, and the director who writes every MoU and then proudly walks it to the printer. It's like watching a one-man drama where everyone else is just there to clap.

This disease runs even deeper in family businesses. The first-generation hands over the baton but keeps the stopwatch. They can't accept that the next generation might not be a carbon copy of their own genius. The son or daughter may not bargain like Abba or shout like Chacha, but they might bring something else, like data, design, or diplomacy. The very skills that could take the business further if only the elders loosened their grip.

When I was CEO, I never had to sign PR, PO, or cheques. Not because I was lazy, but because I believed my job was to build a system that worked even when I wasn't in the room. Many leaders here, however, still think signing everything themselves makes them indispensable. In truth, it only makes them the bottleneck in their own legacy, the human version of Dhaka traffic during rush hour.

Gallup studies show that a big part of how happy and engaged a team feels depends on its manager. When managers hold every decision, engagement drops, and that costs real money. HBR adds that leaders already drowning in meetings lose time for real strategy when they do others' work. The result is frustration, burnout, and missed opportunities. Yet there's one exception: during a crisis, people don't want empowerment; they want direction. When the ship shakes, everyone looks for a captain, not a committee.

"But my team isn't ready," you may say. Of course, they aren't because you have never given them the chance. Delegating doesn't mean dumping tasks like jhalmuri onto them and walking away. It means handing over the result, not the steps: set the goal (the "what"), give them tools and access (the "how"), set checkpoints (the "when"), and explain why it matters (the "why"). Then here's the hardest bit: let them do it without you breathing down their neck. A few essential mistakes will be the cost of learning!

Pick one area, such as customer follow-up, vendor onboarding, or monthly review, and assign someone capable as a "shadow lead." Run through three steps: you lead, you co-lead, they lead. In meetings, hang back. Speak last. Reward those who make decisions without you, even when it's a little messy. Write down the process as a simple doc, not a dusty artefact that lives in SharePoint.

True leadership isn't holding the whistle; it's knowing when to pass it. Bangladesh doesn't need more superheroes at work; it requires systems that work even when the hero takes a nap.

The writer is the president of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh and founder of BuildCon Consultancies Ltd