SCRIPT CHECK · 60 SECONDS
Five quick questions show how often it appears, how believable it feels, and what it makes you avoid. You’ll get one private next step.
This is not a diagnosis and there is no pass or fail. It measures the current frequency, credibility, and behavioral cost of “Asking my team for help costs me authority”, including the private rule underneath it: If I let someone else own the outcome and they fail, that failure is mine. So I own everything myself. That way at least the failure isn't a reflection of my bad judgment—it's just how much I can carry.
QUIET
“Asking my team for help costs me authority” appears, but it rarely gets the final say. Keep this line available for higher-pressure moments: “If work only runs while I'm holding it, I haven't built a team—I've built an audience watching me work alone.”
PRESENT
“Asking my team for help costs me authority” wins some small decisions before you catch it. Your useful interruption is: “Asking for help isn't me losing authority; it's me doing the one thing only I can do: deciding what matters enough to delegate.”
ACTIVE
“Asking my team for help costs me authority” is shaping action often enough to deserve a deliberate counterexample. Start privately and concretely: Open one recurring task you've been doing alone. Write (don't send) one sentence asking a specific person what they'd need to do it instead. Notice what you're afraid they'll say.
DOMINANT
Right now, “Asking my team for help costs me authority” is steering many of the moments you measured. That is a pattern reading, not a diagnosis or character verdict. Begin with one reversible receipt: Open one recurring task you've been doing alone. Write (don't send) one sentence asking a specific person what they'd need to do it instead. Notice what you're afraid they'll say.