Are You Over-Owning the Work?
Most leaders I work with aren’t struggling because they don’t care. They’re struggling because they care too much.
They’ve become what I call the Human Do-er.
The Human Do-er doesn’t hoard work out of ego.
They do it out of responsibility.
Out of urgency. Out of a desire to protect quality, timelines, and people.
And at first? It usually works.
Until it doesn’t.
Are you in Human Do-er Mode?
You might recognize yourself here:
You jump in “just to get it done right.”
Delegation feels slower than doing it yourself (it's easier to do it myself!)
You’re deeply involved in details that shouldn’t require you (you confuse direction and delegation)
You feel indispensable, but you're also exhausted
Your team waits for direction instead of taking initiative (creating a sitch of learned helplessness)
The Human Do-er often looks like a high performer. But over time, they quietly become the bottleneck.
The Hidden Cost of Over-Owning
When leaders over-own the work:
Teams don’t stretch or develop (psst, you take away their agency)
Feedback loops slow down (your team revs slooowly)
Innovation stalls because everything must be “approved.”
Leaders lose capacity for strategy, vision, and decision-making
Burnout becomes normalized
The biggest irony is that the Human Do-er is often trying to help the team succeed, while unintentionally limiting them.
Delegate to Develop (Not to Abdicate)
Delegation is about developing others' capabilities. Here’s what effective delegation actually looks like:
Clarify outcomes Not tasks. Not steps. Outcomes. What does success look like? By when? According to whom? (Paint it DONE folks!)
Welcome feedback early Invite questions. Encourage challenge. Early feedback prevents late-stage frustration.
Rev faster, pivot sooner Short cycles beat perfect plans. Let your team test, learn, adjust—and own the work.
As Seth Godin says "Don't wait for it to be perfect. Don't wait to be inspired. And don't wait for someone to give you a badge or a diploma or a label. Simply do the work. Ship the work. Repeat."
The Leadership Shift That Matters Now
The future of leadership isn’t about doing more. It’s about activating others. It's about creating the capacity for others.
Moving from Human Do-er to Human Developer requires trust, clarity, and patience—but it unlocks:
Stronger teams
Faster execution
Better decisions
Sustainable leadership energy
And perhaps most importantly: It gives leaders their thinking space back.
If this resonates, ask yourself this week:
What am I over-owning that could become a development opportunity for someone else? What can someone else do at least 80% as well as I can?
That 80%? That's the one you delegate. That one shift can change everything.
If everything runs through you, growth stops with you. This week, identify one thing you’re over-owning and turn it into a development opportunity instead. That’s how leaders scale, without burning out.
Ready to lead differently in your next chapter? I’m Jill D. Griffin—Leadership Strategist, Executive Coach, and host of The Career Refresh podcast. I help leaders in career and life transitions clarify their values, sharpen their professional brand, and move forward with intention and confidence. Let’s design what’s next. Message me to explore working together.