I’ve seen a common pattern in engineers and engineering leaders, when up against team or people challenges which require new skillsets that they haven’t quite nurtured yet.
Naturally, with an underdeveloped interpersonal toolkit, even well-intentioned engineering leaders are prone to lean further into their hard-skill technical background to fill these soft-skill gaps, often making matters worse by:
1) Frequently crowding out opportunities for their subordinates to shine
2) Creating an ongoing norm by jumping in to be the “hero” at a moments notice
3) Hindering their team’s confidence and ability to creatively and more independently solve problems
4) Burning out and sacrificing the quality of their personal life, relationships, and vacations
I would argue that nearly every missed KPI can be traced back to a “hero” that tried to take too much on at once, rather than learning how to effectively deploy a team.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
I’ve been in your shoes, and I can help you.
We can work together to help gradually dial back the “hero” knob, take your life back, and get your team performing at the level that they are capable of.