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Growth Strategy
3 Little Things I’ve Learnt From Wearing So Many Hats
Some of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt about productivity, delegation and running a business didn’t come from taking a course or attending a business school. They came from being in the middle of the work. And I mean, getting my hands really dirty, getting the work done.
Oghenemine Owhatuemuhor 9/4/2026 8 0
There is a particular kind of tiredness that comes from being the person who wants to do almost everything.
You answer the message...
You follow up with the team...
You check the work...
You solve the problem...
You think about the next campaign...
You look at the numbers...
Then you realise... Sadly, you spent the whole day working, but barely worked on what actually moves your business forward.
Wearing several hats has taught me a few lessons, some of which I'll be sharing here:
1. Responsibility doesn't mean doing everything.
For a long time, I thought being responsible meant making sure everything got done by me or, at best, with my input. But now I’m learning something different:
“If everything depends on me, I haven’t really built a system. I’ve built a dependency.”
Delegation isn't simply giving someone a task and hoping they figure it out.
Rather, it is giving the right person ownership, clarity, expectations and room to deliver.
And sometimes, getting out of their way and letting go is part of doing your job well.
2. Being busy can be a very convincing distraction.
There are days when my to-do list is full, WhatsApp messages are plenty, meetings have happened, and I have solved a few small problems... But the important things haven't even gotten a wink from me.
Revenue hasn't moved, sales haven't increased, the strategy hasn't changed, the business hasn't improved one bit.
That made me start asking myself:
“Did I spend today being useful, or did I spend today being busy?”
Trust me when I say...Those two are not the same thing.
3. If you keep reminding people, check the system.
This one has probably saved me the most frustration as an Operations Strategist until I was made to understand that: If I have to repeatedly ask:
“What's the update?”
“Have you done this?”
“Did you remember to send that?”
“Why wasn't this done?”
...maybe the problem isn't always the person. Sometimes, the system/process is the problem.
A clear workflow, ownership structure, deadline, reporting system and accountability mechanism can remove so much unnecessary back-and-forth.
Good systems don't just organize work; they give people the opportunity to work without constantly needing you.
And perhaps that's one of the harder parts of growth that I have discovered. You don't just have to build the business; you have to build beyond yourself.
People. Systems. Processes. Leaders. Ownership.
Because eventually, the goal isn't to become the person who can handle everything, but to build something that keeps moving even when you step away.
And here's the bigger lesson... I’m slowly learning that as the business grows, my role has to change too.
I cannot keep measuring my value by how much I personally get done.
One big question you should always ask yourself is:
“How much can I help the business accomplish without everything passing through me?”
That shift changes how you think about productivity, delegation, leadership, operations and growth.
Honestly, I’m still learning it, but I’m getting better at it by the day.
And maybe that is what growing a business really requires:
learning to become less necessary to every little thing while becoming more intentional about the things that actually need you.
So, what’s one thing you’ve had to, or think you should, stop doing yourself as you’re growing in your career or business?
#BusinessOperations
#Leadership
#Delegation
#Productivity
#BusinessGrowth
#Entrepreneurship
#Management
#Systems