This is a common picture in companies of 10 to 80 people. It is rarely a question of delegation style or trust. It usually comes from a structural gap: decision ownership is unclear, the operating rhythm does not support independent action, or accountability lives in relationships rather than the structure itself.
Adding a person to a pattern usually extends the pattern rather than breaking it. A new COO, a new head of operations, a new management layer: if the underlying structure has not changed, the new person typically ends up inside the same routing problem as everyone else.
This is not a criticism of hiring. It is what structures do.
The founder often becomes the default route for decisions not because they want to be, but because nobody has worked out where those decisions should sit. A practical, written map of who decides what and at what threshold typically reduces escalation volume faster than most other interventions.
When there is no regular structure for updates, decisions, and problem-solving, coordination defaults to whoever is most responsive. At 10 people that works. At 40 it usually means the founder is the connective tissue. A predictable operating rhythm, even a simple one, changes what has to go through the centre.
In most companies at this stage, accountability is relational rather than structural: it works because of who cares, not because of how the work is organised. When that person is the founder, everything routes back. The aim is to embed accountability in the structure so it is visible without anyone having to chase it.
One conversation is usually enough to see whether this pattern is present. No obligation. If this is not what the situation calls for, that will be clear early and I will say so.
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