Letting go to grow: How one entrepreneur reclaimed his life and business

At what point does the behaviour that made a leader successful become the behaviour that prevents others from leading?

We often describe letting go as a matter of delegation. That makes it sound primarily procedural: deciding what to hand over, to whom, and under what conditions.

For founders and senior leaders, however, the harder question is often one of identity.

If you have spent years seeing opportunities, solving problems and taking responsibility when results disappoint, stepping back can feel unnatural. It may even feel like abandoning the role that made you successful.

But when a leader formally hands over responsibility while continuing to intervene, those asked to lead never receive the space to do so fully. The founder remains indispensable; the CEO’s authority remains conditional. Commitment and experience—once important sources of growth—can quietly become constraints.

The challenge is therefore not to care less. It is to find a different way to contribute: moving from being the central actor to creating the conditions in which others can act.

That question is at the heart of a coaching case I wrote for IMD’s Coaching Corner. It follows an entrepreneur who had to reconsider his relationship with control, his CEOs and his life beyond business.

Letting go did not mean withdrawing. It meant changing his role.

Perhaps the most useful question is not, “What can I delegate?” but, “What becomes possible for others when I stop stepping in?”