Something interesting happens when an effective leader gets promoted into a senior role…
They bring exactly what earned them the promotion — deep expertise, high standards, the ability to get things done. And then they discover that the new job isn’t a bigger version of the old job. It’s a fundamentally different kind of job.
The old job was about doing the work well. The new job is about building the conditions for others to do the work well — setting direction, developing people, building systems, holding others accountable.
But the old work still needs doing. And you’re still the best person to do it. So you keep doing too much, struggle to delegate, and avoid the accountability conversation that might create discomfort. And as a result, the strategic work your organization actually needs from you keeps getting crowded out.
The experience and capabilities developed by these leaders is what’s getting in the way of their ability to learn the new role.
The Shift That Changes Everything
The new role asks you to stop being the organization’s most capable individual contributor — and start being the person who builds a capable organization.
That means letting go of work you’re good at. Tolerating others’ learning curves. Having harder conversations. And protecting time for the strategic thinking that no one else in your organization can do.
It’s learnable. But it starts with recognizing that staying in the old role while sitting in the new chair isn’t just a personal struggle. It’s a cost your organization is paying.
Four Practices for the Month Ahead
- Week 1: Map Your Work — List everything you did last week and ask: Is this work only someone in my role can do, or am I holding onto it?
- Week 2: Hand Something Off — Choose one task that belongs at a different level and begin transferring not just the work, but the ownership and accountability that go with it.
- Week 3: Have the Conversation You’ve Been Avoiding — Identify someone you’ve been managing around rather than managing directly. Prepare and have that conversation.
- Week 4: Protect Strategic Time — Block two hours for work only you can do at your level. Treat it like an external meeting. Notice what tries to push it out.
We’re all navigating this together!
Ready to Go Deeper?
This transition — from expert contributor to strategic leader — is one of the most common challenges I work on with coaching clients. One leader I worked with, an experienced project manager promoted into an executive role, spent the first year of coaching learning to rely less on his technical expertise and more on his ability to steer through complex and ambiguous situations. The shift changed how he led.
If that resonates, here are two ways to go further:
- Read more about how leadership coaching supports leaders in transition.
- Schedule a complimentary 30-minute insights call to talk through what this transition looks like for you.