Hello and welcome to Episode 346 of The People Powered Business Podcast.

Is there a decision sitting on your desk right now that you keep putting off until you feel more sure about it? Maybe it's the underperformer you've been tolerating, the conversation you've rewritten in your head a dozen times, or the change you know the team needs but haven't started. If you're waiting to feel confident before you move, you're far from alone.

I see this all the time with established business owners. You've built something successful through hard work and good judgment, yet the people decisions are the ones that stall. Most of the time it isn't a lack of knowledge holding you back. It's the belief that you need to feel confident first. That's why I wanted to bring Yasmin London onto the show. Yasmin spent 13 years in the NSW Police Force, much of it as a youth liaison officer, before co-founding the cyber safety education organisation YSAFE. She's now the founder and CEO of First Movers Co and the author of the new book First Movers.

Yasmin's message is one a lot of bosses will be relieved to hear: confidence comes from taking courageous action, so you don't need to have it before you start. She walks us through her FIRST framework, a practical way to work through that hesitation before a big call. We also talk about the tension between control and connection when you're leading a team, including how to let someone go in a way that is respectful and human while still protecting the outcome the business needs (and staying mindful of unfair dismissal risk). Yasmin explains why she sees curiosity as one of the most important skills a leader can build, and why bringing AI into your business should start with your people rather than the tools. She finishes by sharing how to find the smallest possible first step, so you can get moving on that decision without needing to have it all figured out.

In this episode we cover:

• Why confidence comes after you act, and what that means for the people decisions you've been putting off

• Yasmin's FIRST framework for working through hesitation before a big decision

• How to balance control and connection as the boss, including when you need to let someone go

• Why curiosity matters for leaders, especially when it comes to challenging your own assumptions and disagreeing respectfully

• Keeping people at the centre as AI comes into your business, plus a small first step you can take this week

You can connect with Yasmin at https://yasminlondon.com/ or get your copy of the book here: https://yasminlondon.com/first-movers-book

💬 DM Kristy-Lee on Instagram @kristy.lee.billett

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristyleebillett/

Email me at hello@peoplepoweredbusiness.com.au

Book a 15-minute clarity call: https://calendly.com/kristyleebillett/chat

Hello and welcome to Episode 345 of The People Powered Business Podcast.

You've hired good people. You've handed things over. You've set up the systems. And somehow everything still lands back on your desk. If that sounds familiar, you're not doing delegation wrong, and doing more of it isn't going to fix the problem.

This week's episode is a little different. It's the recording of a live webinar I ran called Delegation Won't Save You. Over the last few weeks on the podcast, we've been talking about why so many established business owners stay the bottleneck, even after they've tried everything they've been told to do. This is where it all comes together. In more than 25 years of working with business owners, I've seen the same pattern every time a team grows past a handful of people: the business gets bigger, but the way it's led, structured and staffed doesn't grow with it. That isn't a delegation problem. It's a design problem, and the good news is that design problems can be fixed.

In this episode, I walk through the three foundations that either keep you stuck or set you free: you, your structure and your team. We start with you and your boss style, including the two patterns I see most often, the reluctant leader and the control freak (and yes, I'm the control freak), plus why trying to become a different person to be a "better boss" usually makes things worse. Then we look at structure, the most underrated reason owners stay stuck. I explain the Frankenstein effect, where teams get pieced together out of necessity, and why clear roles and a clear owner for every decision matter far more than most small business owners realise. Finally, we get to your team, and why the people who got you here aren't always the people who'll get you where you want to go.

I also share the story of the holiday where I ended up throwing my phone into the water at Four Mile Beach, and what that moment taught me about getting all three foundations right.

As you listen, think about which of the three is the first fire to put out in your business. Most people know straight away.

In this episode we cover:

• Why delegation only does half the job, and what it can't solve on its own
• The signs your business has a design problem, from decisions waiting on you to holidays that cost more than they're worth
• How your boss style shapes what you hold on to and what you hand over
• The Frankenstein effect, and how to build a structure where decisions don't all land on you
• Why good people aren't always the right people, and why it's okay for your team to change as your business grows

Links & Resources:

💬 DM Kristy-Lee on Instagram @kristy.lee.billett

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristyleebillett/

Email me at hello@peoplepoweredbusiness.com.au

Book a 15-minute clarity call: https://calendly.com/kristyleebillett/chat

Hello and welcome to Episode 344 of The People Powered Business Podcast.

If you walked away from your business tomorrow for a whole month, with no phone, no email and no checking in, what would you come back to? For a lot of business owners with a solid team, the honest answer is "a mess", or "I'd never even try". You've hired good people, you've got roles and an org chart, and yet the business still leans on you for almost everything.

Here's the thing: hiring a team doesn't automatically give you freedom from your business. Freedom is one of my own values, and it's what I want for every business owner I work with. But so often we build teams and structures that still depend on us completely. Most of us have had the week-long break where we work flat out beforehand to get ready, the team hangs on until we're back, and we return to a pile of questions, decisions and unfinished work. The business didn't run without us that week. It just waited. That's why a month is the real test. It's long enough that client problems, resignations and big proposals can't sit there until you get back.

In this episode I walk you through a simple test you can run today, without booking anything. Picture your first week away and write down who would contact you, what about, and why you'd need to be involved. Then add everything that would sit in the "wait till you're back" pile. I guarantee the list will be longer than you expect, and that's okay. This isn't about judging yourself.

Then I show you how to read that list. Look for patterns rather than individual tasks, and you'll usually find three:

things only you can decide, because the structure doesn't let anyone else decide them

things your team could do but don't, because they know you'll swoop in

things you can't put anyone's name next to, because there's a genuine skills gap on your team

Only some of that is a delegation issue. Handing over more tasks won't fix a structure problem, a leadership habit or a team gap, and that's where the real work starts.

I'd love to hear what comes up for you when you run this. Is it the length of the list, a gap you hadn't noticed, or how many decisions still land on your desk? Email me and let me know, and tell me where you'll go for that first proper break.

In this episode we cover:

• Why a week off doesn't tell you whether your business can run without you, and why a month does
• A simple test to map who would contact you, what about, and what would be waiting when you got back
• How to spot the three patterns behind being the bottleneck: structure, leadership habits and team skills gaps
• Why delegating more tasks won't fix most of what's on your list
• What to fix first, before you run the test again over a month and book the break

Links & Resources:

💬 DM Kristy-Lee on Instagram @kristy.lee.billett

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristyleebillett/

Email me at hello@peoplepoweredbusiness.com.au

Book a 15-minute clarity call: https://calendly.com/kristyleebillett/chat

What this episode covers

Many small business owners with a team of 10 to 20 people still can't take a proper break without calls, emails and a backlog waiting for them. This episode gives business owners a practical test to find out how far they are from being able to step away for a month, and how to work out what's really keeping the business dependent on them.

Key insight from this episode

A business that gets through a week without its owner hasn't proven it can run without them. It has usually just waited. Most of what keeps an owner tied to the business isn't a delegation problem. It comes from unclear decision-making structure, leadership habits like stepping in when things go wrong, and genuine skills gaps on the team.

What you'll take away

• A simple test to see which people and decisions would still come to you during a break
• How to separate the tasks you can fully delegate from the issues delegation won't fix
• How to find structural gaps where no one else has the authority to make a decision
• How to recognise the leadership habits that teach your team to wait for you
• How to spot skills gaps by checking which responsibilities you can't put anyone's name next to