There is a clear expectation today that leaders should be enablers, which is great as it makes the leadership model more participative. However, it’s all too easy for new leaders to end up assuming the role of the single source of truth for their teams. Let’s try to understand the reasons behind this.

Regardless of the hierarchy within your current company, people assume leadership positions through 3 methods:

1. Historical Context

Paraphrasing Aslan: “Do not Cite the Deep Magic to Me, I was there when it was written.” Many people become leaders because they have a deep understanding of the historical context of that domain or even the company itself. This is becoming increasingly common in scale-ups where tenure is longer.

2. Market Expertise

You just hired Lionel Messi, so you’re always going to pass the ball to him, as he’s a star. It’s normal that when someone with significant market expertise joins a team, they become the final decision-maker on many topics.

3. Willingness to Lead

Some people have a genuine desire to lead, deeply rooted in the need to bring about change or the belief that they can do things better. Whatever the reason, these people become leaders and put themselves in front of the team, often taking the heat and shielding the team from outside pressure.

And then they become a bottleneck…

Regardless of the method that made a person a leader, as soon as they assume leadership, they often become bottlenecks, mainly because enabling is mistaken for providing all the answers.

As leaders, we should seek ways to empower people to find answers for themselves instead of creating a hard dependency on us.

“But I have all the context, how do I pass this to my team?”

The answer to this question is annoyingly simple: Knowledge Sharing!

As a leader, you should take the time to transmit and provide context to your team, either by offering comprehensive documentation that explains the context or by conducting a session with the team to demonstrate how understanding the whole context improves their decision-making process.

“But I already know whom I should talk to, to get things done. Wouldn’t it be faster for me to do it?”

Agreed, but then you’re robbing them of the opportunity to build these relationships and gain context for themselves.

“But the team will have to context switch often to get this context. By directing them to me, I make this process easier!”

Actually, you don’t. They will have to context switch to explain the problem to you, receive your input, instead of being able to find the answer themselves. The law of effectiveness mentions that no process becomes more effective by adding extra steps to it. Not to mention, they become hostages of your availability.

Look for the signs

It’s easy to verify if the leader is becoming a bottleneck for the team. Compare the leader’s availability and how often during standups the team mentions blockers, or when the leader is on vacation, how often tasks spill over to the next sprint due to the lack of context among team members.

For leaders, if you’re already an Engineering Manager, how frequently do your 1:1s become forums to discuss the context of a certain initiative?

In conclusion, fostering a culture of leadership that embraces enabling is crucial for empowering teams and promoting a participative work environment. As leaders, we must resist the temptation to become the single source of truth and instead focus on sharing knowledge and providing guidance to our teams. By encouraging autonomy, knowledge sharing, and independent problem-solving, we can break free from the bottleneck trap and cultivate a more efficient and self-reliant workforce. 

Ultimately, our success as leaders should be measured not by our omnipresence, but by our ability to replicate ourselves through empowering others. Embracing the principles of enabling leadership can pave the way for a more collaborative, innovative, and resilient organization.