How to work on the business, not just in it
Most founders and senior leaders I talk to know they need to spend more time working on the business, not just in it.
They know they need space to think about where the organisation is going, what needs to change, what decisions are being avoided, and what kind of leadership, structure and capability the business will need for the next stage. The problem is that, in reality, very little about running a growing business makes it easy.
There is always something more immediate demanding attention - a client issue needs resolving, a team member needs support, an urgent decision to make. The week fills up with meetings and phone calls before you have really had time to think, and the work that feels most strategic is often the first thing to get pushed back.
This often happens gradually so that it starts to feel normal. You tell yourself you will make more time next week, or next month, or after the current busy patch. But for most leaders, the busy period never ends, and over time, that imbalance between delivery and direction becomes one of the biggest risks to the business.
Business may be going smoothly, but it becomes harder to lead. The team becomes more dependent on leaders, decisions take longer, priorities drift, and the business moves forward, but not always deliberately.
Why making time to work ‘on the business’ is so hard
Most leaders do not struggle with this because they lack discipline or because they don’t know what the business needs, but because the conditions around them constantly pull them into managing clients and customers, the team or firefighting.
In the early stages of a business, being deep in the work often makes complete sense. The founder or senior leader is usually close to clients, close to delivery and involved in almost everything. That is often part of why the business works. Things move because one or two people are driving them forward.
The difficulty comes later, when the business is growing, but the leadership habits have not really shifted with it.
The same behaviour that once made you effective can start to limit the business. If people still come to you for too many decisions, if you are still too involved in the detail, or if the organisation is still too dependent on your oversight, you become the point through which too much has to pass.
That does not usually happen because no one has made a conscious decision to operate that way, but because the business has evolved and the structure around leadership has not kept pace.
Why it matters
Making time to work on the business can feel like something you will get to when there is more capacity. In reality, it creates capacity. When leaders make time to think, decide and lead deliberately, the organisation becomes clearer, more focused and less dependent. When they do not, the business often becomes increasingly reactive, stretched and difficult to sustain.
So this is not really about stepping away from the work. It is about making sure the business is being led in a way that supports the next stage of growth.
Signs you may be too deep in the day-to-day
This pattern often shows up in ways that feel familiar but are easy to dismiss.
You may find that important strategic decisions keep being postponed because there is never quite enough time to think them through properly.
You may notice that you are still involved in a surprising number of operational conversations, even though you know, logically, that some of them should no longer need your input.
Leadership team meetings may feel full, but not particularly useful. There are lots of updates, lots of discussion and plenty of activity, but not enough real movement on the things that matter most.
You may also notice that your team brings you issues, but not always ownership. Problems keep coming upwards. Decisions get revisited. The same themes appear in meeting after meeting without being properly resolved.
And perhaps the clearest sign of all is that the business may be growing, but it is not becoming easier to run. If anything, it feels heavier, more reactive and more dependent on a small number of people than it should.
What working on the business actually means
Working on the business means creating regular, protected time to focus on the things that are essential to the future health of the organisation, but easy to neglect when delivery is pressing. That includes stepping back to think about direction - not just what needs to happen this week, but where the business is actually heading and what choices need to be made to support that.
It means making time for the decisions that have been drifting for too long - the ones that everyone knows matter, but no one has really had the space to address properly.
It means looking honestly at what is and is not working. Not just operationally, but in a broader sense. Is the structure still fit for the next stage? Are the right people in the right roles? Is the leadership team operating in the way the business now needs?
It also means developing the people around you. If too much still depends on one or two senior people, the answer is not simply to work harder. It is to build more capability, confidence and ownership across the team.
And it means paying attention to culture. What is being modelled at the top? What behaviours are being rewarded or tolerated? What kind of organisation is this becoming as it grows?
Why do leaders stay stuck in the pattern of working in the business
Even when leaders can see this clearly, it is still hard to change. Part of the challenge is practical - day-to-day work is visible, immediate and urgent. Strategic thinking is slower and easier to postpone. The business will always present you with reasons why now is not the right moment to step back.
Part of it is structural. Working on the business doesn’t happen by accident. If there is no dedicated time for it and no rhythm around it, then it will almost always lose out to whatever is shouting loudest that week.
And part of it is personal: for many founders and senior leaders, being closely involved is not just a habit, it is tied to identity. Being the person who can step in, solve problems and keep things moving often becomes part of how they see themselves. Letting go can feel uncomfortable, even when they know it is necessary.
There is also the question of trust. Sometimes leaders stay too involved because the team genuinely is not yet ready to take more on. Sometimes the team could step up, but the leader has not fully made room for that to happen. In many businesses, it is a mix of both.
Being honest about which it is matters.
Practical tips to work on the business, not in it
There is no quick fix, but there are a few things that consistently make a difference.
Protect time structurally, not just with good intentions
If strategic time is not blocked in the diary before everything else fills it, it usually will not happen. Waiting for things to become less busy is rarely a strategy.
Treat this time as seriously as you would an important client meeting. Put it in the diary in advance. Keep it regular. Do not use it for inboxes, catch-up admin or routine updates.Get clearer about what only you can do
Many leaders stay involved in too much because they have never really separated what requires their judgement from what has simply become a habit. Ask yourself:
- Which decisions genuinely need me?
- Where am I involved because it is useful?
- Where am I involved, because it feels uncomfortable to step back?
The more clearly you can define the decisions, responsibilities and conversations that genuinely belong with you, the easier it becomes to let go of the rest.Delegate ownership, not just activity
Handing over tasks is not the same as handing over responsibility. If people are expected to deliver but not trusted to decide, they are unlikely to grow in confidence or ownership.
Real delegation means giving people something meaningful to hold, being clear about the outcome you want, and letting them take responsibility for getting there.Change the way leadership meetings are used
A lot of leadership teams say they do not have time to work on the business, but then spend most of their meetings on updates that could have been shared in advance.
If you want more strategic space, redesign the meeting rhythm. Use pre-reads for updates. Protect meeting time for decisions, trade-offs, priorities, risks and next steps.Build a rhythm for strategic thinking
This might mean protected weekly thinking time, a monthly leadership review, or quarterly sessions that look beyond the next set of immediate pressures.What matters is not finding the perfect framework - it’s creating consistency. For many leaders and teams, this shift becomes easier when it is built into a practical routine. That might mean:
- a protected block of thinking time each week, even if it is only an hour
- one leadership meeting each month focused on progress against strategic priorities rather than operational updates
- a deliberate pause each quarter to revisit what the business is trying to achieve, what is changing around it, where the pressure points are, and what needs to change in the way the team is operatingMake decisions visible and track them
One reason strategic work slips is that it often stays vague. Good conversations happen, but they do not always turn into clear decisions, owners and deadlines. At the end of each strategic discussion, be explicit:
- What have we decided?
- Who owns it?
- What happens next?
- When will we review it?Create external challenge and accountability
External challenge and accountability often make a bigger difference than leaders expect. Strategic work slips because there are rarely immediate consequences for postponing it. The cost tends to show up later.
Having someone outside the organisation who holds the thread, asks the awkward questions and brings you back to what matters can make this work far easier to sustain.
What kind of support can help?
For many leaders, the problem is not knowing that they need to step back. It is actually doing it consistently when the pressure of day-to-day work keeps pulling them back in.
This is where outside support can help.
A coach can help by creating regular space to think, challenging the patterns you keep falling into, and holding you accountable for the decisions and changes you say you want to make.
An off-site or away day can help by creating protected time for you or your leadership team to step back from delivery, gain perspective and focus on the bigger questions that are hard to address in the middle of a normal working week. Sometimes that outside structure is what makes the difference between having good intentions and making a real shift.
How Growth Space can help
At Growth Space, we help founders, senior leaders and leadership teams create the space, structure and accountability to work on the business, not just in it. This includes:
If this feels familiar and you want to work out what kind of support would be most useful, get in touch with Polly.
Call 07966 475195 or email polly@growth-space.co.uk
