When your job becomes leading leaders

For years, being great at the work was the job. You solved the hardest problems, and the organization grew up around you. Then one day there are 40 people, a handful of managers, and a calendar full of other people’s decisions.

Most leaders respond by working harder at the job they already know. They stay close to the details to “maintain the quality.” Often, they redo work their team should own. It feels responsible, and it leaves those managers waiting for a permission they never quite get.

This session looks at the shift from doing the work to growing the people who do it, including the identity question that makes the shift so hard. Brad has made it himself, with plenty of backsliding, and he coaches leaders through it every week.

Key topics we’ll explore

• Why the strengths that built the organization start working against you once there are managers between you and the work
• The question underneath delegation: who are you if you’re not the one with the answers?
• What your managers need from you that they can’t get anywhere else
• How to notice when you’ve slipped back into your old job, and how to step out again

Attendees will leave with a short list of the work only they can do, and one responsibility to hand off before the month is out.

Formats: a 45-minute lunch talk or breakout session, or a longer workshop.