Years ago, a classic management guide described ‘taking on the monkey’ as a metaphor for what managers do when they accept every problem, decision, or unfinished task (a “monkey”) a team member brings to them. The leader wants to be helpful, so they take ownership of the monkey. But by the end of the week, they’re juggling a zoo’s worth of monkeys, while the team has quietly learned that ownership lives with the boss, not them.
This doesn’t just overload leaders. It slows execution, stifles accountability, and teaches teams to hand problems upwards instead of solving them. The very people closest to the work, the ones with the best context to act, end up waiting for sign-off while leaders drown in decisions.
Why do leaders take on the monkeys?
> “It’ll be quicker if I just do it myself.”
> “If I make the call, at least I know it’ll be right.”
> “I don’t want them to get stuck – I’ll take it back.”
> “They don’t have the full picture – I’d better do it.”
All well-intentioned. But each time, the effect is the same: leaders become bottlenecks and reinforce team behaviour to not make decisions for themselves.
The fix: push decisions down
Strong leaders create the conditions that pushes ownership as far into the organisation as possible.
That means:
> Check the monkey first – Do we need to address this problem, decision, or task at all?
> Set outcomes, not instructions – Leaders define the “what”, teams decide the “how”.
> Agree boundaries – Define when issues should be escalated, and when they shouldn’t.
> Schedule touchpoints – Check progress, coach, and surface concerns without taking the monkey back.
> Decide how the monkey retires – agree upfront whether this ends with a decision together or a notify-only update.
Delegate responsibility but stay close enough to coach (and never take the monkey back.)
The payoff
When leaders stop carrying every monkey, two things happen:
> Leaders free up time for the decisions only they can make.
> Teams grow in capability, confidence, and speed.
The result isn’t chaos. It’s ownership. And ownership is where execution power lives.
Be honest, which monkeys are you still carrying that your team should own?
At Oak Mountain, we help leadership teams build the habits and frameworks that turn delegation into empowerment.
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