She's That Founder: Business Strategy, Time Management and AI Magic for Impactful Female Leaders

072 | How Female Founders Delegate Like a CEO Before They Burn Out

• Dawn Andrews • Season 2 • Episode 72

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Hey founder friend, if you're overwhelmed, overbooked, and over it? 

Delegation is your way out.

In this episode, I’m sharing the moment I realized I was the bottleneck in my own business and how I started shifting from gatekeeping to truly leading. We’ll talk about the fear behind control, why martyrdom is not a business model, and how giving trust first (not last) is the move that changes everything.

If your team is waiting on you for every decision… this one’s for you.

In this episode, you’ll learn…

  • Why delegation isn’t a luxury — it’s leadership
  • How to shift from gatekeeping to empowering your team
  • The mindset flip: trust is built by giving, not waiting for proof
  • What happened when one founder let go — and her team rose
  • Why martyrdom isn’t your mission (even if the culture makes it feel that way)

This episode at a glance:

[2:10] - Gatekeeping feels like control, but it’s actually fear.

[3:29] - Martyrdom is not a business model.

[5:31] - You don’t wait for trust to be earned. You build it by giving it.

[5:52] - Your team can’t grow into leaders if you never let them lead.

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

Dawn Andrews:

Hey, hey, hey, founder, friend, if you're overwhelmed, overbooked and over it, delegation is your way out. Welcome to she's that founder business strategy and time management for impactful female leaders who want to use the magic of AI to make running their business easier. This is the place where big hearted founders become bold CEOs.

Dawn Andrews:

I'm your host Dawn Andrews, and today we're talking about the moment every scaling founder has to face, realizing that delegation isn't optional, it's survival. Hey, friends, before we dive in, if you haven't already grabbed it, my free guide, 10 Ways AI will make you a better leader. Is the perfect starting point for stepping out of the weeds and into your CEO role using AI. This is not just about dropping some phrases into a chat bot and hoping that everything is going to turn out great, bad input, bad output. This is about actually using AI to improve your leadership skills, how you're seen, how you're perceived, and how your communication lands. Yes, AI can actually do that. It can actually help you with that. You can download it at the link in the show notes, and it'll show you how to stop micromanaging and start multiplying your impact right away. Go grab it now 10 Ways AI will make you a better leader, check the show notes now.

Dawn Andrews:

Well, friends, here we go. Let me tell you about the time I realized I was the bottleneck in my business. It hit me like a bad cup of gas station coffee. I mean, real bad. My team was circling my slack channel like planes at LAX waiting to land. And my team is not unskilled. They are amazing. They are not lazy. They are go getters. But they were waiting, waiting on me, just God, the amount of time and energy. Lost the amount of brilliance on the sidelines, because they were waiting for me to approve, to tweak, to answer, just one quick thing, and that's when I had my Oh no, it's me. I'm the drama moment. I wasn't leading. I was gatekeeping, and let's be real.

Dawn Andrews:

Gatekeeping feels like control, but it is actually fear, fear that someone else will drop the ball, fear that if I let go, everything will fall apart. And the truth was holding onto everything was actually breaking the business. What was heartbreaking to realize is that my team really wanted to take more off my plate. They were hungry for ownership, starving for clarity, and instead, I was feeding them teaspoons of trust, not because I didn't value them, or because they weren't trustworthy, but because I was scared.

Dawn Andrews:

So here's my mindset. Shift. Delegation isn't about dumping tasks, it's about distributing ownership. It took me a minute. I mean, let's be real. It took me, like, several months, and it's still in process to shift from thinking I needed to touch everything to realizing that if I did, I would never scale. And let's be clear, this is not just about the theory of this or understanding it intellectually. It's about having the courage and consistency to actually make those changes, because it means you care enough to make what you do in your business sustainable for you and for your people, I'm going to say something that might sting a little bit, and I'm saying it because it was my realization, and it stung a little bit when I realized it.

Dawn Andrews:

Martyrdom is not a business model. We've been sold this lie that being busy means being valuable, and especially as women in business, we buy into it so hard we believe that the CEO who works the hardest wins, no, it is the CEO who makes the smartest decisions and builds a team that can run without her who wins. You are not a better founder because your calendar is jammed. You are not more worthy because you skipped lunch again. You are not a hero for holding it all together. You are tired and tired. Founders make reactive decisions, not strategic ones. Here's my real talk for you, one of my clients, let's call her Valerie, runs a powerhouse entertainment law firm. Her team respected her, her clients adored her, but she was drowning.

Dawn Andrews:

Why? Because every contract clause, every red line, every client strategy email, still ran through her she told me I thought I was protecting my standards, but I realized I was editing my team's confidence into the ground. I saw myself in her I've done it too, and I bet you have, and I bet you're doing it and you don't even realize it. So what changed? She stopped waiting for her team to earn her trust, and decided to just give it, not blindly, but intentionally. She started letting her senior associates lead client calls. First she shadowed, and then she finally let go and let them do it on their own. She set standards and. Documented them. She clarified boundaries and Decision trees and then got out of everybody's way. And what happened her Team Rose. They didn't just meet the bar. They raised it. And what that meant for her was being able to take a break, like a real break. She was able to spend quality time with her family. She was able to take a sabbatical from the firm that she started with confidence, knowing that everything was taken care of.

Dawn Andrews:

If I could go back and tell my earlier CEO self one thing it would be this, you don't wait for trust to be earned. You build it by giving it. The mistake I made for years was thinking I had to see proof before I handed over responsibility, and it is 100% the flip. The real shift happened when I decided to give trust first, not blindly, not recklessly, but intentionally, because your team can't grow into leaders and owners if you never let them lead. Trust is a muscle, both yours and theirs, and you have to exercise it to make it stronger, waiting for proof is safe, but it is also so slow, and success in scale doesn't come from playing small or slow.

Dawn Andrews:

So you're not lazy, you're not overloaded, you're not broken, you're bottlenecked, and it's totally fixable. So where in your business are things waiting on you? What would be possible if you didn't have to approve every email, every task and every decision? What kind of growth would that unlock, or time back for yourself? Would that unlock who on your team is capable of more if you gave them room to rise that can start with an inkling, with just a suspicion that there's somebody that could be.

Dawn Andrews:

Hey, what's up, Lady founders, if you're ready to go deeper with us, the AI for founders playbook is your next step. It is a mini course that helps you automate with soul, Delegate with confidence, and free up at least 10 hours a week using AI strategies. That's more strategy time, more family time, or just a little more breathing room. The AI for founders playbook is your absolute next step. You can find the link in the show notes. Go grab your mini course.

Dawn Andrews:

Now get started and enjoy that. 10 hours back. We can't wait to give you more, here's what I want you to take away today. Delegation isn't a luxury, it's leadership, and if you keep waiting until you're less busy to start delegating, you'll never stop being busy. You are not the problem, but your bottleneck might be so let's fix that. Start by downloading our free guide 10 Ways AI will make you a better leader and take the first step towards getting your team time and sanity back. Because CEO isn't just your title, it's your job, girl, and you deserve to lead like it is. Be kind to yourselves, and I'll see you next time.

Dawn Andrews:

If today's episode gave you a few light bulb moments, or even just helped you exhale. Do me a favor, hit that follow button. Leave a review, or better yet, share this with a founder friend who needs it, and if you're ready to lead with more clarity and way less chaos, you can come join us inside AI for founders, our free private community on LinkedIn, remember, you don't have to do it all. You just have to do the right things and do them with a little panache and grace or a little AI magic. I'll see you next time you.