When Stepping Back as a Leader Backfires

Sometimes, in an effort to empower our teams, we step back, talk less, and create more space for others to lead.

But if you haven’t explicitly transferred ownership, you may be creating a leadership vacuum instead.

In this Two-Minute Tip, I share why empowering others requires more than simply stepping back, and what to do instead.

• Read the video transcript

  Leaders, sometimes when you think you are empowering your team, you're actually making things harder for them. You sit back because you want others to step up.

  You talk less because you want others to be able to lead and hold the mic.

  You give people space in a meeting because you don't want to dominate.

  All good things, but there's a catch.

  If you're not careful, you trying to create space for others to lead will actually just leave a leadership vacuum.

  If you're the person that people are looking to to lead the meeting, to make the decision, to drive the conversation forward,

  you can't just quietly sit back and leave space expecting others to take over.

  Especially if you haven't explicitly given them permission to do so.

  Instead of feeling empowered, people start to feel frustrated and confused.

  And then that meeting starts to drag on. People are wondering, "Am I supposed to make this decision? Who's driving this conversation?

  Is he waiting for us? Am I going to overstep if I speak up and drive things forward here?"

  What you intended as empowering them, can actually cause strain.

  I was just talking about this issue of that leadership vacuum with a leader in a coaching session recently.

  And so he made a few pivots, and it's making a huge difference already.

  In the spaces where he still needs to be the leader, the owner of the conversation and the meeting, he's doing just that. And guess what? They're driving forward with better progress, even ending meetings early. And in the other spaces, he's explicitly passing ownership to somebody else, delegating ownership of the meeting, of the conversation.

  So when you want your team to take more ownership, you want to see them step up, don't just remove your leadership. You have to transfer it.

  If you want other people to lead, simply talking less isn't enough.