Fair to middle in

Ah, the joys of middle management! I am in a newly created position and everyone I line manage used to go straight to the CEO for their management, supervision and decisions. Theoretically they should now come to me, but behaviour change is not that simple. Each person tells me they are glad of the post, supported the appointment and are happy they are finally getting better management. However, they still go to the CEO - I still discover they have arranged meetings, had phone calls and made decisions without me being informed.
Although the temptation is to continue to tell them to stop, that they need to liaise with me now, that I am here to help and support them, the real change in behaviour must come from the CEO herself. She needs to lead that by stopping doing all the things she has always done. Although she had the wisdom to know there was too much here for her to do, she has not yet learned to stop trying to do at all anyway. This will take time, and learning how to 'manage your manager' is as unique a journey as learning how to manage your team. Currently I'm just working through different approaches that do not seem to work, but I'm not sure how else to figure out which one will work.
This got me thinking about the broader issue here, learning to stop doing things is surely as great a challenge to any of us as learning how to do things in the first place. The twitch in the hand repressing the urge to reach out and help as a disabled woman puts on her own sock, stacking chairs away so the room looks nice for the next group, unlocking, sweeping up, covering shifts...always seeing what isn't being done and being the one to do it, - it's a natural way to work when you work to support people. The challenge then is this: how do I encourage people to learn how to stop, if I don't learn it for myself? But only by not stepping in will I ever know if there really isn't anyone else, only by all of us stopping will we really learn the extent of the unmet need, and only by stepping back do we create enough space for others to step forward.
We are in the business of empowerment, and sometimes the most empowering thing of all is to create a space, to stand still...and wait.