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Malaria Taught me to Delegate š¦
Why you won't delegate until you have to
Dear Friends,
āI donāt have time to delegateā
Thatās what I used to tell myself. Then I got malaria.

Back when I was teaching programming in Ghana
It was back when I was juggling three full-time jobsābuilding Bitwala, running a web agency, and teaching programming in Ghana. I had convinced myself that every task had to be done by me.
Then, malaria happened.
"You Probably Have Malaria"
"Sounds like malaria," my boss told me one Friday when I was feeling off. He was right.
I spent days in a feverish haze, drenched in sweat, my body aching like I had been hit by a truck. My brain refused to process even simple thoughts. Even watching a movie felt impossibleāIād forget the plot halfway through. Work? Laughable.
But I had so much to do!
Mustering all of my strength, I found I was able to concentrate for about 20 minutes a day. How was I going to maximise that time?
I had no other choice: I had to delegate.
There's Never a "Good Time" to Delegate
So was it a disaster?
Well, it wasnāt perfect, but it worked! My clients didnāt fire me. My startup didnāt crumble. The world didnāt end. It was the first time I realized: the problem was never that I ācouldnāt delegateāāthe problem was that I never even tried.
Thereās never a good time to delegate.
There are so many excuses:
ā āItās faster if I do it.ā
š§ āNo one else has done this before.ā
š āThey wonāt do it like I would.ā
Sound familiar?
The truth is:
Delegation is scary.
Itās important, but never urgent.
Thereās never a āgood timeā to do it.

A recent trip to Gabon - now Iām a lot more careful with Malaria medication š¦
How to Delegate Without Getting Malaria
Since my Ghana experience, delegation has been critical as Bitwala scaled. Hereās an exercise I use:
1. Make a List
Look at your calendar & to-do list:
What are your main activities?
How much time do you spend on each?
2. The Malaria Thought Experiment
Imagine you could only work two hours per day.
What must you focus on?
What should be handed off?
Who could take on these tasks?
3. Make a Delegation Timeline
Now you have a picture of today and an idea of what an extreme version of delegation would look like.
But you donāt have to go from zero to one hundred overnightāmake a timeline.
E.g.
š Within 1 month: I wonāt be involved in sales calls under X value.
š By the end of Q3: Iāll fully hand over the hiring process to person Y.

4. Build in Accountability
Use habit stacking or calendar blocking to review your delegation timeline monthly.
Share your plan with:
The people youāre delegating to.
Your co-founders or peersāask them to hold you accountable.
Your coachābecause external accountability works.
The Best Leaders Delegate Proactively
"I just have too much to do."
I hear this all the time. When startup leaders run in this ātoo busyā mode for too long, they burn outāor, at the very least, stop functioning at their best.
š Bad leaders donāt delegate
š Average leaders delegate only when necessary
𤩠The best leaders delegate proactively
Delegation isnāt about giving up control. Itās about gaining freedom. And the sooner you start, the sooner you can actually focus on what matters.
Ben
P.S. If youāve ever struggled to delegate, reply and tell me whyāIād love to hear your experience.