If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, or founder stuck inside daily operations, this episode is essential listening.

Lewis Haydon lays out a simple, practical system to pull you out of the weeds and put you back in the CEO seat. No fluff, just the exact steps to stop being the bottleneck, install accountability, and create leverage so the business runs without you. You’ll learn how to identify real constraints, set role scorecards, replace yourself in meetings, build decision filters your team can use without you, and protect CEO time for strategy and growth.

This is from the trenches guidance for operators who want freedom without letting performance drop.

Takeaways:

• Map your weekly bottlenecks, if it repeats, it gets delegated or systemised.

• Install a role scorecard (3–5 KPIs per seat) so green stays off your desk; red comes with an owner and a fix.

• Replace yourself in meetings, leaders run them; you get concise summaries and make high leverage moves.

• Create a decision filter (2–3 principles) so 80% of decisions happen without you.

• Protect CEO time, two half-days a week on strategy, systems, hiring, and growth (not inbox firefighting).

• Think context over content, solve today’s constraint, not someone else’s playbook.

• Your job title is Chief Energy Officer; pump energy, don’t be the doing department.

Chapters:

00:02 – Why you’re stuck in operations (and what to do instead)

04:30 – Recognising you’re the bottleneck: hard questions that force clarity

08:30 – Context over content: tailor tactics to your constraints

12:30 – Constraints, cashflow, and leverage: digging new “rivers”

15:43 – The System (Step-by-Step)

16:00 – Step 1: Map weekly bottlenecks

18:00 – Step 2: Install a simple scorecard (3–5 KPIs per role)

20:30 – Step 3: Replace yourself in meetings; promote managers to lead

23:00 – Step 4: Build a decision filter aligned to vision/values

25:00 – Step 5: Protect CEO time for strategy, systems, and growth

28:30 – Final mindset: from doing to directing; dividends over day-rate

Keywords:

get out of daily operations, founder bottleneck, role scorecards, KPIs for small business, leverage for entrepreneurs, decision filter, replace yourself in meetings, protect CEO time, scaling operations, building A-player teams, leadership rhythm, operations system, context over content, business constraints, chief energy officer

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