The Right Altitude Field Guide to Delegation
Letting Go of the Work That Got You Here

You think you're too busy to delegate. You're too busy because you don't.Every leader knows they should delegate more. The calendar says senior leader. The actual hours say something else. And the strategic work, the part the role was really for, keeps sliding to a week that never comes.Here's what most delegation advice misses: it isn't a time management problem. It's an identity problem. The work you can't let go of is usually the work that made you successful. Letting go of it feels like letting go of the proof that you belong in the room. So you review the deck one more time, sit in the meeting you don't need to attend, and rewrite the update on Friday night.This field guide is about letting go without losing control. It's built around 5 practices, each aimed at a specific way delegation breaks down:The Altitude Audit. The Dentist Trap. The 70% Rule. Delegation vs. Abdication. Building the Bench. Start with the 5-question diagnostic to find where you hold on too tight, then go straight to the practice that loosens it. Every practice includes coaching questions, a 48-hour experiment you can run this week, and a 30-day build that turns the change into a habit. You'll also get the tools that make a handoff stick: the 5-level delegation spectrum; the shadow assignment that builds judgment, not just capability; and the 3 debrief questions that turn every meeting you skip into a development rep. Section Three shows you the 5 delegation patterns and the seams where 2 practices quietly fail together.The stories are drawn from coaching conversations with leaders who were stuck in exactly this spot.This is for the leader who is good at the work and tired of being the only one who can do it. Outcomes, not steps. 70% and shipped.Part of The Right Altitude Field Guide series: short, practical guides by executive coach Don Eash, MCC, ACTC.