Delegation: from a founder who does everything to a team that works even when you are away

Session two: the founder is the biggest obstacle to delegation

On Saturday 17 October 2026, the second EntreStations session brought together 62 people at DIGIT Center in Kafarsouseh, out of 119 who registered. The topic was delegation. Ahmad Nahas moderated two speakers: Amir Khammash, founder and director of Princetect Group, and Laith Al-Rikabi, Deputy CEO and CFO, and a board member of the Damascus Securities Exchange.

The session opened with a line every founder has said: "I don't have a single employee I can rely on." It ended with the conclusion that, in most cases, the problem is not the employee.

• Weak delegation is the biggest obstacle to a company's growth, and the obstacle is usually the founder.
• When the person you delegated to makes a mistake, change the person or change the process, but do not cancel the delegation.
• Your way is not always the best way. What matters is the result.
• Delegation does not mean stepping away and then chasing every detail. Micromanagement cancels delegation.
• The first thing an investor asks: if the founder is away, does the company stop?

What happened in the session?

Ahmad Nahas opened with a well-known 1974 article, "Who's got the monkey?". The idea is simple: an employee walks into the manager's office with a problem, and walks out without it. By the end of the day the manager is carrying everyone's problems, and the whole team is waiting for his decision.

He then showed five levels of delegation, from an employee who only moves when told, to one who works alone and meets the manager once a week. The goal is that nobody in the team stays at the first two levels.

During the session the audience voted on four questions from their phones. The results showed on the screen right away, and the speakers discussed them.

What did the speakers say?

Amir Khammash talked about the mindset of "never share the secrets of the trade", and said that people who share what they know learn more. He added that you cannot blame your team for something you never taught them, and that here the manager carries more responsibility than the employee. He said he wants people to know Princetect, not Amir, because the company has to outlive him.

Laith Al-Rikabi said everyone blames the employee, when the problem is often a manager who sees himself as faster and more accurate than everyone else. He gave the example of a skilled surgeon who becomes a hospital director: the day you founded your company, part of your job became managing, not doing everything yourself. He said the founder who knows the company matters more than he does is the one who can delegate.

At the end, Laith warned against micromanagement, and Amir spoke about starting out as an architect who delegated straight away what he did not know, such as finance. Laith and Ahmad stressed that a founder must know the company's numbers and ask for them.

Questions from the room

One attendee asked when delegation turns into extra load on the employee. Laith said an ambitious employee is happy with responsibility, and if they are under pressure, they should delegate too. Delegation is what grows a company, not hiring one more person every time.

Another asked whether the person you delegate to must work your way. Laith said what matters is the result, and young people often find smarter solutions. He advised thanking them in front of everyone once the task is done.

What did the room say?

81% said they would hand over a task they do 20% better than a team member (25 of 31 who answered).

86% said trust in a new team member is earned over time, not given on day one (19 of 22).

65% said they are still climbing fast, 26% are past the ceiling with leaders in their team, and 9% are stuck at the ceiling (23 answered).

These are live votes from the room, and the number of voters changed from question to question, so they show a direction, not an exact measure.

How attendees rated it

30 attendees rated the session. The overall score was 3.7 out of 5, the speakers 4.4, and how likely they are to recommend it 4.0. Organisation scored 3.3 and the venue 3.0.

The message is clear: the content and the speakers were the strong point, and the room and organisation were the weak point. The main comments: the room was too small for the number of people and some stood the whole time, the sound did not reach the back because two speakers shared one microphone, and there was no break in two hours.

Thank you to everyone who wrote honest feedback. We are taking it into account as we prepare the next sessions.

The takeaway

Delegation is not throwing a task at someone. It means handing over a clear result with the authority it needs, accepting early mistakes, and measuring the result, not the method. And if the founder is the obstacle, the fix starts with the founder.