I used to believe I need to be the most technically knowledgeable person in my team when I became a team leader.

I got promoted to lead a team because of my technical skills.

At that time, I thought I needed to make all the technical decisions for my team. After all, wasn’t that the reason I got the job?

Well, that’s a myth – and how egoistic!

I created a lot of grief in my team because I’m suppressing their creativity.

I discounted solutions that were not similar to how I would solve them.

I expected my team members to think and do – as I do!

My boss at that time had to pull me aside and gave me feedback about my perfectionism.

That was my wake-up call.

Over time, I realised that I needed to learn how to harness the wisdom of my team, to be more effective. So, instead of focusing on how to be more technical and make all the decisions.

I learned how to:

👂🏽 Listen attentively to my team and create the space for them to think and solve

🧑🏽‍🏫 Facilitate decision-making by considering different perspectives rather than making the decision unilaterally

❓ Coach the team, I didn’t need to have the right answers. But I need to ask the right questions.

What beliefs did you use to hold that no longer serve you?