Sally Palmer
Product, Head Coach
I used to think the hardest working leaders were the most successful ones.
Put in the hours.
Grind through the problems.
Show up everywhere, all the time.
Then I realised something that changed everything.
The leaders who scale aren't the ones working the hardest. They're the ones who made the shift from Operator to Architect.
Most of us start as Operators. We fix every problem, manage every decision, fight every fire that breaks out in our business. We tell ourselves this is leadership, but there's an invisible trap we fall in to.
When you're the solution to every problem, you become the bottleneck to every breakthrough.
The Operator asks:
"How do I work harder?"
The Architect asks:
"How do I get better results?"
It's not the same thing...
Too many leaders give everything to their business yet feel stuck, drained, and unfulfilled. You know the feeling—that grinding exhaustion where you're moving fast but somehow not moving forward.
It's about moving from hustle to strategy.
Creating clarity, focus, and systems that let the business serve your life, not consume it.
Here's how you know if you've made the shift.
Ask yourself these five questions:
Do I know what this business must deliver to me?- Am I working on myself, on my business and on my people?
- Am I choosing to be happy and enjoy the process?
- Am I thinking and planning long-term?
- Am I firefighting, or am I closing gaps and delivering results?
Your answers will tell you everything.
One of the key shifts when moving from Operator to Architect, is getting your team to work for you, not against you.
When structure and accountability are clear, performance follows.
Here's a reminder of the ABL way to look at Structure:
Structure before people. Define your business by its core functions, not by the personalities running them.
Attach people to functions. Once the objectives are clear, align the right people to deliver them.
Clarity in deliverables. Make everything measurable, objective, and tied directly to incentives.
Stats and accountability. Track actual vs. target performance religiously.
This is the difference between being trapped by your own success and being liberated by systems that work without you.