INSIDE LETTING-GO MENTORING
Free Interns Do Not Free You
You have three keen interns, and every quote and client email still waits for your approval before it goes out. Ivanka Menken uses the Step-Out Log inside Letting-Go Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to turn one intern task into a named handover: one owner, one check-in date, 14 days with no override. You leave with one written handover entry and a clear list of what still comes back to you.
The Step-Out Log is a tool inside the programme, not a separate product.
AN EXAMPLE STUDIO
Three interns. One desk.
- THE HELPfree, keen and busy3 interns
- STILL WITH YOUand every client email, approvedEvery quote
- THE HANDOVERa named owner, 14 days, no override1 task
THE RULE
“Hand over the decision, not the typing. Then stay out for 14 days.”
Your interns and tasks will be your own.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
More help, the same queue
- 01You added help and the queue still ends at your desk.
- 02Every quote and client email waits for your approval.
- 03Your interns have tasks, but no decisions of their own.
THE WORK, AS IT STANDS
- Interns: three, unpaid, keen to help
- Quotes: drafted by interns, approved by you
- Client emails: drafted by interns, approved by you
- Named owner for any task: none
- Date you last stepped out of a task: never
More hands, and the same single desk at the end.
THE EXAMPLE CASE
Three interns and one approval queue
01
THE MOMENT
Three interns waiting at one desk
It is late afternoon and three interns are waiting on you: one with a quote, one with a client email, one with a question about tomorrow. The help was meant to save you hours. Instead you spend the end of every day reading drafts and saying yes. The cost has stopped being abstract. Your own work starts after everyone else goes home.
02
WHAT THEY HAD TRIED
More free help and more updates
In this case, the founder of a small studio took on three unpaid interns to keep costs down. When the work still piled up, the fix was more of the same: another intern, a daily update, a shared folder of drafts. Each step added work for the founder. Every quote and client email still came back for a final check, so the queue simply moved from the inbox to the end of the day.
03
WHAT IVANKA NOTICED
Tasks without an owner
Ivanka noticed the interns had plenty of tasks and not one decision. Nobody could send a quote or answer a client without the founder’s final check, because nobody had ever been named as the owner of anything. The founder had never logged a single real handover with a date, an owner and a rule for what comes back. Headcount had grown. Ownership had not moved at all.
THE DIAGNOSIS
A handover problem, not a headcount problem
The real problem was not the number of people. It was that the founder had never handed over a decision, only the typing that sat in front of it. Free help that needs your approval is not free. It costs your evenings.
The reframe: the cheapest way to get time back is one written handover that stays with someone else for 14 days. A third or fourth intern adds drafts. A named owner removes a decision from your desk.
Help that needs your approval is not help yet. It is a queue.
THE COST OF STAYING STUCK
Every extra pair of hands without an owner adds another draft to check. The founder becomes the bottleneck for the very people hired to remove it.
THE TOOL
The Step-Out Log, for one intern task
The Step-Out Log is how Letting-Go Mentoring moves work off the founder: step out of one task, log what still needed you, and hand it over in order. For interns, the log starts from the approval queue: which drafts come back to you, and which one can leave your desk first.
Tap a part. Your interns and your first task are yours.
Step-Out Log · a framework by Ivanka Menken
What it is
It is one entry on one page. The task, the named owner, what they decide without you, the check-in date and the short list of what still comes back. Underneath, 14 days with no override, then a review of what returned.
What it replaces
It replaces a final check on every draft, a daily update nobody reads and the hope that one more intern will clear the queue.
It sits inside Letting-Go Mentoring, next to the Commitments-Kept Scorecard. Each fortnight, one handover is written down and reviewed at the next session. It is coaching with written commitments, not a done-for-you fix.
THE ENTRY, FOR ONE TASK
- 01The task: replies to routine client booking emails
- 02The owner: one named intern, not the group
- 03What they decide: the reply, the time slot and the send
- 04What comes back: a price change, a complaint or a new client
- 05The check-in: day 14, at the next session
- 06The rule: no override in between, notes only
HOW IVANKA WORKED WITH THEM
One entry, one owner, 14 days
In the first session, Ivanka listed everything the interns sent to the founder in a normal week. Then she asked which item had the smallest cost if it went slightly wrong. Routine client booking emails won. Together they wrote one Step-Out Log entry: the task, one named owner, what that intern could decide, what still came back and the check-in date. The founder agreed to make notes rather than step in for 14 days.
THE STEP-OUT LOG ENTRY, AS WRITTEN
- Task
- Replies to routine client booking emails.
- Owner
- One named intern, with the send button.
- What still comes back
- A price change, a complaint or a new client.
- Rule for 14 days
- No override. Notes only, brought to the session.
- Review
- Day 14, at the next session
Your task and owner will be your own.
THE FOUR-STEP LOOP
- 1The one thingRoutine booking emails, approved one by one.
- 2The numbersThree interns, one desk, every email checked.
- 3The storyWhy checking felt safer than handing over.
- 4The commitmentOne owner, 14 days, no override.
THE QUESTIONS
- Which draft comes back to you most often?
- Which one costs least if it goes slightly wrong?
- Who will own it, by name?
- What still has to come back to you?
- What will you do instead of stepping in?
Before the next session, the founder told the named intern what they now owned, kept a short note of every urge to step in and brought the notes back, unread by anyone else.
WHAT CHANGED
One task gone, and a clearer list of habits
By month 6, the founder has a run of written handovers, one each fortnight, and can see which approvals were habit rather than necessity.
BEFORE
- Every quote and email was approved by the founder.
- No task had a named owner.
- More interns meant more drafts to check.
- Evenings went on the approval queue.
BY MONTH 6
- A run of written handovers, one each fortnight.
- Named owners for routine work.
- A short, written list of what still comes back.
- A clear view of which approvals were habit.
THE 12 FORTNIGHTS
- 1Call
- 2Call
- 3Call
- 4Call
- 5Call
- 6Month 3
- 7Call
- 8Call
- 9Call
- 10Call
- 11Call
- 12Month 6
The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, one handover each fortnight, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.
ILLUSTRATIVE RESULT
The founder wrote one Step-Out Log entry and left it with the named intern for 14 days, then used what came back as the next session’s work. Two emails came back, both covered by the rule. The founder began to see which approvals were habit, not necessity, and chose the next handover from that list.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
Hand over one decision before you add more help
Ivanka Menken built Letting-Go Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses who became the bottleneck. She helps you choose the first handover, write it down and stay out of it long enough to learn something.
This fits if you have help, paid or free, and every piece of their work still crosses your desk. It does not fit if you want open-ended coaching or someone to manage your team for you. The decision in front of you is one task and one name. Write them down before you take on more help.
“During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.”
Business owner
WHO IT IS FOR
It fits
- You have interns, assistants or juniors and still approve their work.
- Your evenings go on reading drafts.
- You can name one routine task you check out of habit.
- You will write the handover down and stay out for 14 days.
It does not fit
- You want open-ended coaching with no written commitments.
- You want a done-for-you fix or someone to manage the interns.
- You are not willing to let one task go slightly differently.
- You have no one yet to hand work to.
THE INVESTMENT
AUD $1,500
per month ex GST
6 months · 12 fortnightly sessions
The Step-Out Log is part of Letting-Go Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.
- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- One handover each fortnight
- The Commitments-Kept Scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous. Claim a founding place.
The Step-Out Log is part of the programme. It is not sold separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about handing work to interns
Which intern task do I hand over first?
Choose the draft that comes back to you most often and costs least if it goes slightly wrong. Routine replies and booking emails are common first choices. Name one owner, not the group. Ivanka Menken works through the list with you inside Letting-Go Mentoring, a programme of 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, and you leave with one written entry.
What if they get it wrong?
Some will go slightly differently from how you would have done it. That is the point of choosing a low-cost task first. The entry lists what must still come back to you, so the real risks stay covered. Ivanka Menken reviews what happened with you inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
How do I keep it reversible?
Write the check-in date and the list of what still comes back before you start. For 14 days you make notes instead of stepping in. At the review you keep the handover, adjust the rule or take the task back with a reason. Ivanka Menken runs that review inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
What happens after 14 days?
You bring the notes to the next session. Whatever came back becomes the coaching item, and the rule is tightened or widened. Then the next handover is chosen from the same list. Ivanka Menken keeps one handover moving each fortnight inside Letting-Go Mentoring, a programme of 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Hand over one decision first
If you have help and every piece of their work still waits for you, start with Letting-Go Mentoring. The Step-Out Log is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.
Not open-ended coaching or a done-for-you fix.