By Doug Green
“If someone can do it 70% as well as you—you need to let go.”
At the close of the Channel Partners Conference & Expo and MSP Summit, I spoke with Julie Thiel of TTS Company about a theme that stood out amid a week dominated by AI and technology: the human side of growth.
Thiel shared that many of the leaders she spoke with during the event are energized by opportunity—new customers, new services, and new technologies—but also feeling the weight that comes with scaling a business. Growth brings complexity, and ultimately, it brings more people. For many leaders, that translates into longer hours and a deep sense of responsibility for their teams.
Against that backdrop, Thiel outlined three practical leadership principles that she sees as essential for companies looking to scale successfully.
First, leaders must hand off results—not just tasks. Delegation is not about assigning activity; it’s about transferring ownership and accountability for outcomes. Without that shift, leaders remain bottlenecks in their own organizations.
Second, she emphasized the importance of “tell, show, do” as a framework for developing people. It’s not enough to explain what needs to be done—leaders must demonstrate it and then create space for employees to execute. This structured approach to training builds confidence and capability across the team.
Third, and perhaps most challenging, is the idea that if someone can do a task 70% as well as the leader, it is time to let go. For many executives and founders, this represents a significant mindset shift. However, without it, organizations struggle to scale because too much remains dependent on a small number of individuals.
In a week filled with discussions about automation and artificial intelligence, Thiel’s perspective underscored a critical point: technology may enable growth, but people determine whether that growth is sustainable.
For MSPs, channel partners, and service providers, the takeaway is clear. Scaling a business requires not only the right tools, but also the willingness to invest in people, develop leadership capabilities, and step back to allow teams to take ownership.
Learn more at: https://thieltalentstrategy.com/
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