“You know you’re a leader when you start to think less about yourself and more about your team.” – Kenny King, Head of Alternatives, Asset Servicing, BNY Mellon

What a powerful statement. It got me thinking about how we spend high school, university and our early careers solely focused on contributing as an individual. We only rely on ourselves for success. And then we discover the shock when we become a leader:  we are now responsible for the TEAM’S success, not just ours.

In so many ways, it’s a mindset shift, because we have to let go and allow others to demonstrate performance. It means also sidestepping many of the tasks that once made us successful and giving others the opportunity to shine. But you haven’t disappeared altogether. Your role as a leader is like being a movie director: you share the vision, set the stage and guide as best as you can. Then it’s up to the actors and all the stagehands to perform and excel in their roles. 

A senior leader once shared with me how she struggled with letting go, because all the success up to a certain point had been based on her contributions alone. And the scary part? She now had to rely on her team for success, and she felt she had absolutely no control there.

Perhaps we have no control over how people will respond or act. However, we do have control over many things:

• We can influence outcomes by setting a vision, then stepping out of the way and letting people get on with it.
• We can encourage mistakes so that people can actually learn. Often, we step in too much, trying to protect our teams. People will learn far more when they get the chance to make their own errors and grow from them.
• We can ask powerful questions to improve self-reliance and demonstrate confidence in our peoples’ abilities. Instead of answering for them, ask a question: “I know you know how to do this. How would you take this forward?”
• We can challenge people to explore deeper solutions and innovative ideas. As a leader, you don’t have to always come up with all the best ideas when your people can.

Being a leader means trusting your people to do the work, even if it means it’s not exactly the way you would do it. You play a powerful role by providing a roadmap for people to follow. Ultimately, their success becomes your success.