Stepping away from business – whether for maternity leave, a sabbatical, or even just a needed pause – brings every founder face-to-face with one of the most confronting questions in leadership: What happens when I’m not in the room?
Before I stepped away for maternity leave, I found myself staring at my calendar asking that exact question. Not just, “Who will handle what?” but: Will the vision hold? Will the team rise? Will the heartbeat of the business keep beating if I’m not the one holding it all together?
It hit me – the ultimate test of leadership isn’t about whether we can carry it all. It’s about whether we’ve built something that carries on when we’re not carrying it.
Can it still bless your family when you’re off the grid, and serve your people with excellence even if you’re not leading the meetings? Does it continue to move toward the mission without you having to push every piece forward?
It’s more than logistics – it’s about legacy, leadership, and the systems (or lack thereof) you’ve put in place. And if you’re a parent-founder like me, it’s also about knowing your family won’t feel the tension of your business in every room.
That’s exactly what I had to reckon with before I stepped away for maternity leave. And in this episode of the podcast, I’m pulling back the curtain on the frameworks, mindset shifts, and team strategies that made it possible to go from operator to visionary.
→ Listen to the full episode wherever you tune in.
The Cost of Being the Bottleneck
There was something stirring in me in the weeks before maternity leave – a question I hadn’t had to ask in years, but one that kept echoing as I stared at my calendar:
What happens when I’m not in the room?
Not just who’s tackling the everyday tasks, but who is shepherding the business. Will the vision still live and breathe? Will the work still bless the people we’re called to serve? Will it still support our family?
That’s when I realized this is the true test of leadership. Not, “Can I do it all?” but, “Have I built something that can still rise without me hovering over every inch of it?” This is what it means to build a business that runs without you.
How to Stop Being the Bottleneck
Most founders I work with have unknowingly trained their businesses to depend on them. Even with a team. Even with systems. Even with good intentions.
Because somewhere along the way, we were taught that being needed equals being valuable.
So we whisper things like: They’re not quite ready, so I’ll take it on. Once this launch is over, I’ll breathe. It’s just a season.
But when that “season” quietly bleeds into every quarter, it stops being temporary. It becomes the norm. And without realizing it, you’re the one still holding the weight of everything.
The freedom you built the business for? Gone. Replaced by a role you can’t clock out of and responsibilities you never fully hand off.
The Framework That Helped Me Step Away from the Business
To move from chaos to clarity, from constant presence to a business that gives more than it takes, I leaned hard on a simple but powerful model: the Leadership Leverage Pyramid. It changed everything.
There are 3 levels:
Level 1: The Operator
You’re doing it all. Time goes to die here. Growth slows. And you feel like the only person waking up at night.
Level 2: The Manager
You’ve hired help, but you haven’t truly handed over ownership. Everything still filters through you. You’re directing traffic, but you’re not steering the ship.
Level 3: The Visionary
This is the sweet spot. You’re building what’s next. You’re coaching your team rather than editing every deliverable. You’re the visionary founder. You’ve created a business that works when you’re not working.
To illustrate: One of my clients, a faith-led founder of an online coaching business, spent years in Level 2 – approving every email, tweaking every funnel, and unable to take a full week off. Over six months, she adopted decision-frameworks, delegated full projects instead of tasks, and let go of final approval of non-mission-critical offers. When she stepped away to attend a family retreat, her team brought in a new launch and she didn’t even need to “gate-keep” the prep. That week, she returned to more profit than the previous month and deeper peace than she remembered.
How to Test If You’re Stuck in Operator Mode
Here are some quick signs you might still be living in Level 1 (Operator) rather than building a business that works when you’re not working:
- You still can’t unplug – you check email or Slack during family time, or you plan your “day off” around work tasks.
- Your team asks permission more than they propose solutions – they default to “Should I…?” instead of “Here’s what I recommend.”
- You’re still doing tasks you hired someone else to do because “it’s faster if I do it.”
- Your calendar is full of reactive blocks; you end every day exhausted but not proud of the progress.
- You’re measuring your worth by busyness instead of clarity or legacy.
If you recognize yourself here, you’re not alone but you’re ready to shift from being the bottleneck to becoming the visionary founder.
It’s Not Just About Delegating – It’s About Who You’re Becoming
This isn’t just about doing too much. It’s about who you’re becoming in the process. You start tying your worth to your inbox. You stop dreaming. You mistake constant involvement for leadership. You can’t rest unless the boxes are checked. And slowly, that inner voice – the one God gave you to discern what’s next – gets buried beneath noise, decisions, and Slack pings.
This is exactly why I created a free guide – 20 CEO Cheat Codes. They’re not just AI prompts – they’re clarity shortcuts for the founder who wants to lead from overflow instead of over-functioning.
→ Grab the 20 CEO Cheat Codes – plug-and-play AI scripts that help you clarify your vision, uncover the real bottlenecks, and know exactly what to delegate, delete, or double down on.
Leading a Business That Breathes Without You
If you’ve built something that only runs when you’re running, here is the blunt truth: You haven’t built a business yet. You’ve built a job with perks. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.
You can lead from overflow. You can stop white-knuckling every task. You can shift out of “how do I get through this week” and into, “what legacy am I actually building?” That’s what it sounds like to build a business that works when you’re not working.
That’s what I dive deep into in my upcoming book, Your Big Next. It’s a call to rise into your next level of leadership, alignment, and impact and finally step into the work only you can do.
→ Join the waitlist for Your Big Next – a faith-forward book which bridges the gap from busy work, to your profitable life’s work.
Because your Big Next might not be another offer or a fancy tool or a new hire. It might just be a new way of leading – one that lets the mission move forward even when you’re not in the room.
