Most founders try to outsource the doing. It helps — until the team still comes back with, “Can you approve this?”
The real unlock is teaching people to decide like you would.
The Decision Speedometer
There are three “speeds” that let a team make aligned decisions:
- Core Values (ethos): How we treat customers. What matters more than money. Where we never cut corners. This is your North Star.
- Spending + Resource Thresholds: How much someone can spend (or who they can pull in) to solve a problem. Give every role a number and a “bench.”
- KPIs + Guardrails: What success looks like in numbers — response times, NPS, show-up rates, refund ceiling, ROAS range — and what to do when we’re outside the band.
These build on one another. You can’t have someone with control over budgets who doesn’t understand your values.
As one is mastered, we move to the next section. And your load gets lighter as the founder.
When these are clear, your team has bumpers. When they’re missing, everything rolls back onto your plate (or goes up in smoke).
Build your guidelines in an afternoon
- Write 3–5 core values with a one-line decision test for each. (“We choose long-term trust over short-term cash.”)
- Assign spend limits by role (e.g., Ops Lead $2,000/month, CX Lead $500/month, VA $100/month) and define resource “pings” (who they may loop in without asking you).
- Pick 1 KPI (key performance indicator) that matters this season, define the appropriate ranges (ie. “good”, “better”, “best”).
Then practice. For two weeks, ask your team to bring you their decision + reasoning, not just their question. Coach the thinking.
What changes when your team decides
- You stop being the Slack switchboard.
- Issues resolve faster, closer to the customer.
- Leaders emerge — not from titles, but from judgment calls.
- Your leave becomes… quiet.
Start small, but start
You don’t need a 40-page playbook. You need a one-page guideline and a weekly ritual to inspect how it’s working. Adjust the ranges. Raise thresholds. Celebrate good calls.
Remember: decision-making is a muscle. You didn’t know all the answers when you first started either.
You’ve got this.
Warmly,
Aly
