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The best founders I've worked with know exactly when to dive deep and when to trust their team. This black and white thinking of "be close or be distant" ignores the reality that leadership requires constant calibration. Sometimes you need to trust data without micromanaging, sometimes you need to question everything. It's not about avoiding being "halfway" - it's about knowing which mode to be in for each situation.

This advice really resonates with me as a founder who nearly tanked my first startup by trying to delegate too early. I was afraid to get "in the weeds" because I thought I should be focusing on big picture stuff. Turns out when you're starting out, you need that ground-level understanding or you make terrible strategic decisions. Now I rotate through departments quarterly to stay connected while still maintaining perspective.