When a client is unhappy and the deadline is tonight, we call the person we trust most.

Often, that person already has more than enough to do.

As founders, the decision makes sense. We need someone who understands the situation, takes ownership and gets it done. There is a customer relationship to protect.

So we ask.

They deliver. The client is happy. We move on.

Until the next emergency, when we call the same person again.

Each decision solves an immediate problem. Repeated often enough, those decisions create a different one.

The person who misses commitments gets less responsibility. The person who keeps commitments gets more work.

Eventually, our most dependable employee may start wondering:

“Why does doing my job well mean I keep getting more work than everyone else?”

We love hearing, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

It takes pressure off us. We need to notice where that pressure goes.

Because when someone keeps absorbing the consequences, the underlying problem can remain untouched. The deadline gets rescued, but whatever caused the emergency is still there.

Try this in your next leadership meeting.

Look at the last three emergencies your team handled.

Who rescued them? Whose responsibility was the work originally? What did the person helping have to postpone?

And what changed to prevent another rescue being necessary?

That last question is our responsibility as founders.

If the same name keeps appearing, that person deserves more than another thank you.

The people we depend on most deserve a team they can depend on too.

Krishna Lakamsani | Serial Entrepreneur | Investor | I write at the intersection of AI, capital, and the future of the human job market,
sharing my life lessons, reflections, and honest takes from the founder-investor's seat.