Scale-up leaders must learn to unlearn certain behavioural patterns characteristic of start-up leaders, in particular, the tendency to micromanage. A fully hands-on and direct approach is simply untenable as the business scales. It is time to let go of the reins and delegate. In the highly dynamic scale-up journey, a leader’s attention and energy should be redirected elsewhere – to tasks that enrich the company’s value in the long term and on the broader picture.

Micromanaging employees is not a productive activity that generates long-term value; thus, leaders should steer clear of it. Delegation is also integral to the process of training future leaders who acquire and hone their skills through practice, which in turn requires a degree of autonomy. Top leaders know the importance of distributing power downwards, for it is through the empowerment of others that hidden pockets of creativity and wisdom outside the conventional decision-making structure come to light.