A lot of executives assume that being the go-to person is what makes them valuable.
That belief is dangerous.
What actually happens, being the “always available” leader introduces fragility.
Employees stop deciding because the leader always steps in.
Early on, this looks like high performance.
But eventually:
- Decisions slow down
- The team loses initiative
- Pressure compounds
That’s why so many high performers burn out.
They didn’t build a team.
This concept is clearly explained in this article by :contentReference[oaicite:3]index=3:
???? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-hero-leaders-burn-out-teams-arnaldo-jara-45tmc/
In the article, he shows that:
- Overinvolved leaders create dependency
- Burnout is predictable
- Real leadership scales people
What makes this different is its simplicity.
Leadership is not about being the hero.
It’s about creating systems that run without you.
This idea is reinforced in :contentReference[oaicite:4]index=4, where the same principle is broken down.
The best leaders don’t centralize control.
They build capability.
So the better question is:
“How can I do more?”
Ask this instead:
“How can my team do more without me?”
At the end of the day:
If everything depends on you, you are why micromanagement leads to burnout limiting growth.
That’s dependency.