Be Replaceable

When you want to take the next step in your career a lot of people will tell you to “do the job that you want”. This isn’t wrong, but I don’t think it’s a complete picture when it comes to leading. I would argue that preparing for your next step actually starts with showing others how to do what you do. It’s the opposite of what I hear a lot of people recommend. Instead of beginning by learning to do the job you want, you should show your team how to do what you do, so you can replace yourself.

Teaching

Teaching others in general is a core aspect of being a great leader. I’m not talking about showing your proteges how to do all the mundane tasks you do on a day to day basis. We aren’t talking about showing your leads or managers how to do timesheets, here. We’re talking about showing them how you make hard decisions. How do you navigate the tech space and choose the right path forward when it isn’t so obvious. The Hard Things. How do you form lasting relationships with partners in your company, or vendors. How do you build the strategy for your team, how to you formulate goals.

It doesn’t have to be something you specifically dedicate time to either. What I normally do with my teams is have them shadow me and participate in my duties so they can learn while I’m doing it. That means bringing them into meetings that may be a little higher level discussions than what they are used to. It may mean asking them to do tasks (or at least try to do them) when they have absolutely no idea what to do. That’s ok.

Helping them fail and then get back up is an important part of the process. It is infinitely better for them to learn the skills you know they need to learn when they have their leader there to back them up, to show them the right way, to mentor them. Making a bad decision is a lot easier to recover from when you know you have someone to help you fix it. If you weren’t there, who is going to show them a better way?

It Starts on Day 1

This isn’t a mentality you should adjust into when you are thinking about moving up in your career. This is something you should incorporate into how you run your team on a daily basis from the very beginning. It creates a culture of teaching, mentorship, learning, and guidance that can have profound effects on your team as a whole.

Scalability

This shift in mentality comes with some serious side benefits. If you want to scale yourself, well, this will do it for you. As your team starts to pick up the skills you leverage on a daily basis, they will become more and more eager to jump into and help out.

If I can show others how to be half as effective as I am, I only need 3 people to learn and I’ll be better off than if I was doing something alone.

Something I tell people often when I try to describe why leadership scalability can be so important.

There is a Reason

You were asked to become a leader for a reason. Now it’s time for you to share that with those around you, so they can take your place, and you can move on to other things eventually.