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Hey Unfiltered Folks,
HOW DO I GET MY TEAM TO CARE AS MUCH AS I DO?
MY LEADERSHIP TEAM IS FULL OF INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS IN DISGUISE.
Answer: You promoted skill, not spine. Wrong promotion criteria.
You took your best doers and made them leaders. They were great at doing. They're terrible at leading.
Why? Because doing and leading are different skills. You assumed technical excellence predicts leadership capability. It doesn't.
Now you've got a leadership team that can't lead. They're doing the work instead of leading the work. And you're confused why nothing scales.
Question: Who on your leadership team can actually lead without you?
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Why: Individual contributors (in leadership roles means no real leadership. They're doing the work instead of leading the work.
You promoted them without preparing them.
Here's what happened: your best IC was crushing it. So you promoted them. They became a manager. But you never trained them on management.
You assumed they'd figure it out. They didn't.
They don't know how to delegate.
They don't know how to coach.
They don't know how to develop others.
So they do what they know: the work. They're in leadership meetings doing IC work. They're "leading" by example, meaning doing everything themselves. Meanwhile, their team is underdeveloped because nobody's actually leading them. And your leadership team is a bunch of high-paid ICs pretending to be leaders.
You created this by promoting skill without developing leadership.
Action: Assess each person honestly.
Who's actually leading? For the ones who aren't, have direct conversations: "You're great at doing. This role needs someone great at leading others to do. Let's figure out where you belong."
Some can be coached into leadership. Give them 90 days with real coaching. Others should go back to IC work with full respect.
Promote someone who shows leadership spine, even if their technical skills are weaker.
You can teach skills.
You can't teach spine.
Stay Unfiltered,
— Andy
P.S. You can buy spine, you can’t teach it.
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