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I’ve been out of the office since last week, recovering from surgery. I’ve got another week of being laid up ahead of me, mostly catching up on books and TV shows and resisting the urge to check in on work “just to see how things are going.”
That distance has been clarifying.
Most conversations about delegation assume you’re still present. You know what needs to be done, you can anticipate decisions, and you can step in if something unexpected comes up. Even when you delegate well, you’re still hovering close enough to influence the outcome.
Being fully out removes that option.
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When you’re not there, you’re no longer delegating tasks. You’re delegating judgment. You don’t know what’s coming up. You don’t get to weigh in. And you don’t get to catch small things early. Work still happens anyway, and watching that from a distance is revealing.
Absence makes it obvious where you’re a single point of failure. It shows which decisions are quietly waiting on you, which processes only exist because you personally remember how they work, and which things move forward just fine without your involvement.
Here’s the part many leaders struggle to internalize: most things don’t actually require you. And that’s not a statement about your importance. It’s the outcome you’re aiming for. Let go of the FOMO you’re likely holding onto right now.
Teams that can proceed without you aren’t disengaged or under-led. They’re operating with enough context, trust, and clarity to make decisions without constant escalation. That kind of delegation isn’t created in an out-of-office message. It’s built over time through clear decision boundaries, shared context, and permission to move forward without perfect certainty.
If you want to make this practical, try this the next time you’re unavailable for a series of days, even if you’re not on leave. Pay attention to what stalls, specifically:
What decisions waited for you unnecessarily?
Where did people hesitate even though they didn’t need approval?
What knowledge lives only in your head?
What would have moved faster if the system mattered more than your presence?
Those answers point directly to your next delegation opportunities.
Time away isn’t just recovery. It’s a stress test for your leadership system. And it’s often the clearest signal you’ll get about where to focus next.
(I promise to be less “what getting surgery taught me about b2b sales” next week.)