🦅 Nick here! Let’s get started on another great week.

This week, we're discussing how most owners don’t realize they’re addicted to control until it’s the very thing holding their business back.

Most owners don’t choose to become control freaks.
It just… happens.

They want the money, freedom, and respect.

But….

One “I’ll do it myself” turns into another year of doing everything yourself.
You delegate something, then you hover.
You tell your team to take ownership, then you jump back in because you don’t quite trust the outcome.

Before long, you’re running a company that can’t run without you.
And you call it “high standards or quality control.”

But truthfully?
I call BS….
It’s control.

And nothing stops improvement faster than an owner who can’t let go.

To build a transferable asset, you must have people help you (unless you are selling your invention). Too many business owners have it backwards, thinking they must go alone or watch over everyone’s shoulders all the time.

To You, Control feels:

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:

The more control you keep, the more you suffocate your growth, your team, and your own freedom.

Owners don’t get stuck because of cash flow, competition, or chaos.
They get stuck because they’re still operating like an employee inside their own company.

There are a few times I see this most commonly while I am working with owners. I’ll break down the six biggest emotional and operational traps that keep owners locked in the weeds. There isn’t enough room here to go too deep, so if you want to explore one more closely, let me know.

1. Identity Tied to the Business

For many owners, the business isn’t separate from who they are.
It is who they are.

Signs you’re here:

This isn’t strategy.
This is insecurity dressed up as leadership.

2. Fear of Failure Disguised as Perfectionism

You’re not afraid of mistakes.
You’re afraid of public mistakes.

So…. you stay tightly involved, believing you’re preventing disaster.
But research says otherwise:

Control doesn’t prevent failure.
It causes it.

3. “Busy” as a Comfort Zone

Owners spend years in survival mode.
Task → task → task. Only concentrating on tasks.

So…. when the business finally reaches a point where you should step up to owner-level work, you panic and run back to the familiar.

Because:

You’re not addicted to control.
You’re addicted to avoiding the discomfort of work you’re not 100% confident in doing.

4. Weak Systems Force You Back Into Daily Operations

This one stings the most, and I’m not talking about the systems running the daily operations. Systems to run the owner role effectively.

If nothing is documented…
If only you know how to do it…
If no one else has the authority to make decisions…

Then yes…. you’re forced to stay in control.

But this is the turning point:

If you solve your systems problem, your control problem dissolves with it.

Systems create consistency.
Consistency builds trust.
Trust breaks the addiction.

5. You Don’t Trust Your Team (and They Don’t Trust Themselves)

Control always flows downstream.

When you:

They eventually stop taking the initiative when you are and aren’t there. Some generations say that other generations are so lazy and don’t do anything. Maybe it is because they never had to.

They wait.
They hesitate.
They ask before they act.

Then you get irritated that they “won’t step up.”
It’s a vicious loop that ends in burnout for you and stagnation for them.

6. Control Feels Like the Only Safety Net

Especially when:

Most owners clamp down harder.

But look at the transformation of Penta Technologies:
They moved from a micromanaged culture to team ownership and saw employee empowerment jump from 38 percent to 98 percent in 3 months.

Control reduces uncertainty in the short term.
But here’s the kicker, it multiplies the risk long-term.

If even one of these hit, you’re not alone.
This is the default path for 90+% of owners.

It only becomes dangerous when you pretend it’s not happening. Because guess what? There isn’t a single owner out there in control of much of anything other than what they are prepared for when it actually arrives.

Control is costing you more than you think:

The job is not to hold the business together.
The job is to build one that holds itself together.
The job is to build a transferable asset without you in it.

Before you close this email, take a moment to look inward for 60 seconds.
These questions reveal exactly where you're holding on too tightly:

1. What am I still doing that I don’t want to do anymore?

2. Where am I the bottleneck with decisions, tasks, information, or approvals?

3. If I stepped back 50 percent, what would break…. and what might actually improve?

4. What story am I telling myself about why I can’t let go?

5. If my team owned their roles entirely, what would I finally have time to build?

Growth follows release.
Freedom follows trust.
And your next level as an owner starts the moment you stop gripping the wheel so tightly.

📣📣 Cheering you on, Nick 📣📣