Build #70 - You’re not growing if your team still needs you in every pitch

If you’re still the one leading every big client meeting, every sales call, every tricky negotiation... then let’s be honest:

You’re the problem.

I’ve been there. You’re probably really good in the room. Clients trust you. You close deals. You fix things when they go wrong.

But if your team can’t handle those conversations without you, you’re not scaling. You’re just spinning harder. And sooner or later, you'll burn out or stall - or both.

The hidden dependency you’ve built

Dependency crops up all the time in B2B businesses - especially those selling complex services, consultancy or anything where trust is a key part of the sale.

You hire great people. You hand over the work. But when it comes to anything messy, strategic or high-stakes... you’re right back in the centre of it all.

The pitch? You lead it.

The client pushback? You step in.

The upsell conversation? You’re there again.

And it’s not because you’re a control freak. It’s because most people on your team have never been taught how to handle that stuff. Not properly.

So instead of building a business that runs without you, you’ve built one that runs through you.

Which means you’re now the linchpin - and the limit.

Been there. Bought the stress.

I ran my own business for 15 years. We grew from nothing to a few million in revenue. And for a long time, I was proud of how involved I was.

Clients would say, “It’s great to have you, the CEO, personally involved.” And I’d nod, while secretly wondering if I’d ever get a week off without checking messages.

We had great people. But I hadn’t given them what they really needed - the confidence and capability to lead commercial conversations without me.

So I decided to change that. And here’s what happened.

We mapped the whole client journey.

We got in a room and asked, what do brilliant client relationships look like from start to finish?

We looked at every step - from the very first conversation to annual reviews with long-term clients. And we didn’t sugar-coat it. We were too reactive. We said yes too often. We avoided difficult conversations.

So we made a big list:

Start: Giving clearer pushback when deadlines were unrealistic

Stop: Over-servicing just because a client sounded annoyed

Continue: Building trust early by listening properly, not pitching

We turned it into a roadmap. Not just process change but skill building.

Then we did the hard part: We trained for it.

We put in place a programme focused on what I used to call “soft skills” - but which I now think of as commercial survival skills.

Things like how to:

• Handle tricky conversations without getting defensive
• Spot and act on opportunities to upsell
• Push back while keeping the relationship strong
• Lead meetings with confidence, not waffle

And at first? It was wobbly. One person got flustered in a client workshop and handed it straight back to me. Another froze when asked about budgets.

But over time, they got better. And then something shifted.

Clients started trusting them.

We didn’t need me in the room anymore. The team could hold their own.

Projects ran smoother. Feedback loops were faster. Clients didn’t come to me with every little thing. They spoke to whoever was leading the work - and got better results.

One of our quieter team members ended up closing a large client upsell. Not because she was pushy - but because the client trusted her judgement.

And the commercial impact?

Client revenue went up by 35% in a year.

Not from doing more work. Not from doing better work. But from doing work better - and being braver in the right conversations.

But more importantly, I got out of the way.

I wasn’t the fixer anymore. I wasn’t the safety net. The team didn’t need me like they used to - and that was the win.

It freed me up to focus on strategy. To build new offerings. To think ahead. The stuff I should’ve been doing years earlier, but was too busy firefighting to even attempt.

What I wish I’d done sooner.

If you want to make this shift, start with a few uncomfortable questions:

• Where in your business do people default to you?
• What’s stopping your team from taking the lead in those situations?
• Are you developing delivery people - or client leaders?

You don’t need a 12-month plan to start. You just need to stop pretending this will fix itself. It won’t.

Invest in your people. Teach them how to handle the hard conversations. Let them lead and support them while they learn.

Because here’s the truth:

If the business still needs you in every pitch, you haven’t built a business yet. You’ve just built a job you can’t leave.