Everything Comes to Me: How to Break the Cycle of Decision Fatigue
Feeling like the decision bottleneck in your business? You’re not alone. Here’s how to shift the rhythm and get your team working independently.
"Why does every tiny decision still come through me?"
It’s one of the things I hear most often when I start working with SME or ETA-backed leaders. They’re weeks—or months—into the role, and the honeymoon period is over. They’ve rolled up their sleeves, seen the gaps, set a direction… but somehow, nothing moves unless they push it.
Every question. Every next step. Every decision. Comes. Through. Them.
And it’s exhausting.
Nine times out of ten, it’s not about you and your leadership style, it’s a legacy problem.
If you’ve taken over from a founder, you’re probably seeing the residue of a highly centralised leadership style. The founder built the business by doing everything, seeing everything, signing off everything. That muscle memory doesn’t disappear overnight—especially if the team hasn’t been shown a different way.
You can give all the permission in the world, but if people aren’t used to making decisions, they’ll hesitate.
They’ve learned that taking initiative is risky, so they default to waiting.
The result?
You become the bottleneck.
They feel stuck, second-guessed, and quietly frustrated.
Everyone loses momentum—and trust.
It’s Not About Permission. It’s About Practice.
When leaders tell me, “I’ve told them they can make decisions now,” I ask:
How are you helping them practise it? Reinforce it? Normalise it?
You can’t fix a culture of dependency with a one-time message.
You need a rhythm that encourages action, reflection, and confidence-building.
Try This: The Weekly Decision Review
Once a week, gather your direct reports and ask them to share:
One decision they made on their own this week
One they weren’t sure about
One they’d approach differently next time
That’s it.
No judgement. No over-analysis. Just visibility, reflection, and reps to build the new muscle memory.
Over time:
People start to own their choices
You start to see where guardrails might help to establish clear operating boundaries
The team stops checking in for every small thing
You reclaim your brain space for strategic thinking
It’s a 15-minute habit that shifts everything.
What Changes When This Works
✅ Your team becomes faster, more confident, more accountable
✅ You stop feeling like the blocker
✅ The business starts moving forward without being held up by a single point of approval
This isn’t a quick fix—but it’s a fast start.
And a nice little bonus? It builds trust—both ways.
