Are Your Indispensable As A Leader?

The first thing that usually develops as a new leader is our EGO? We control people! We control futures! We can make or break someone’s career by our choices and actions. Over time, this ego grows out of control, and most of us find we have become “indispensable”. The company will fold without me.

In our learning community we talk about the importance of building a strong foundation based on integrity. As time goes on, you keep your integrity close to you, as it will drive your behavior and decisions. But almost all of us lose sight of this “foundation” at one point or another. We begin to feel that we are so important to the overall success of the team and organization that we are bullet proof. Take it from someone who has fallen from this place, the business gets along just fine without you.

One thing to consider as our ego grows, if you are so indispensable, how will you ever leave your current position and move to the next level? I have experienced this many times, where we have a supervisor that performs very well. But they have not taken the time to “release” some of this knowledge and power through delegation. They have not made people development a vital part of what they do every day.

Ask yourself these questions.

-Was the department or company successful before you came?

-When you go on vacation, does everything stop functioning?

-Are you using delegation effectively to train and motivate your team?

Our focus every day needs to be people development. Make your team more self-directed, able to perform most day to day activities with or without you. We want to eventually have one or two people that step into our role while we are away. This takes time, but once you get there, you are free to begin looking for other areas of the organization that you can get involved with.

I encourage you to develop close relationships with peers so you are able to get honest feedback from them when your ego starts to expand beyond the healthy stage. Look for signs from your team members that may indicate your behavior has changed. We are always the last one to know when it comes to an overgrown ego. Be important, be indispensable, just stop “thinking” of yourself as indispensable.