Who Are You Readying to Take Your Chair?

Grab your coffee.

I want to talk about something we often celebrate in the workplace that might actually be holding some very talented people back.

Being indispensable.

    You know the person.

        Maybe you are the person.

            Everyone comes to you.

                Something breaks?

                    They call you.

Nobody knows how a process works?

Ask you.

A customer has an unusual problem?

You know what to do.

Someone can't find the file, remember the password, understand the spreadsheet, navigate the system, or figure out why something was done a certain way five years ago?

You know.

And if we're being truthful over coffee…

It feels pretty good to be needed.

There's validation in hearing:

“I don't know what we'd do without you.”

That's supposed to be one of the greatest compliments you can receive at work.

But lately I've been thinking…

What if it isn't?

What if “we couldn't survive without you” is actually a warning?

Because if the organization truly can't function without you doing your current job, what incentive does anyone have to move you out of it?

That's where this gets uncomfortable.

Sometimes we believe we're demonstrating our readiness for promotion by becoming incredibly good at our current role.

And yes, competence matters.

Results matter.

Expertise matters.

But eventually, leadership requires something different.

You have to prove that the work can continue without you.

Take another sip because this is where I think it gets deeper.

Sometimes our inability to delegate isn't really about other people's abilities.

    It's about our identity.

        We like being the expert.

            We like being the person with the answer.

                We like knowing people need us.

                    And sometimes, without even realizing it, we protect that position.

                        We don't document everything.

                            We don't teach every shortcut.

We take back work because someone else doesn't do it exactly the way we would.

We say:

“It's just faster if I do it myself.”

And sometimes that's true.

Today.

But what happens tomorrow?

Or next year?

• What happens when you want the promotion?
• What happens when you want to take a two-week vacation?
• What happens when you want to move into leadership?

What happens when an incredible opportunity appears and suddenly everyone realizes:

Nobody else knows how to do your job.

You've created job security.

Unfortunately, you've created it for your current job.

That's a very different thing from creating career mobility.

I've come to believe one of the biggest shifts we make as leaders is moving from:

“Look what I can do.”

to:

“Look what I can help other people do.”

That's leadership.

The best leaders I've known aren't walking encyclopedias guarding everything they've learned.

    They multiply knowledge.

        They teach.

            They coach.

                They document.

                    They delegate.

They create opportunities for someone else to struggle a little, learn, and eventually become capable.

And yes, sometimes that means watching someone do something differently than you would.

That's hard.

Because delegation requires giving up something many high performers love:

Control.

If I do it, I know it'll be right.

    If I give it to someone else, they might make a mistake.

        They might take longer.

            They might ask questions.

                They might even discover a better way.

                    And maybe that last possibility bothers us more than we'd like to admit.

Because there's another uncomfortable question hiding underneath all of this:

What happens if I teach someone everything I know…and they become really good at it?

Good.

That's the point.

Their competence doesn't diminish your value.

Their growth demonstrates it.

That's worth sitting with.

We sometimes think our value comes from possessing knowledge other people don't have.

But the higher you move in leadership, the less your value should come from what only you can do.

Your value increasingly comes from what happens because you were there.

    Did people grow?

        Did you make the team stronger?

            Did you create systems?

                Did you develop someone who could eventually take your seat?

                    Did you leave things better than you found them?

And here's one of my favorite questions for leaders:

If you were promoted tomorrow, who could do your job?

If your answer is:

“Nobody.”

That might not be the flex you think it is.

It might be the work you need to start doing.

So here's what I'm thinking about over coffee this Thursday:

Stop measuring your value by how many things fall apart when you're gone.

Measure it by how many things keep working because of what you built.

• Teach someone.
• Document the process.
• Share what you know.
• Give someone else a chance to become the expert.
• Let them make a few mistakes.
• Coach them through it.
• And while they're learning what you know, start learning what you'll need for wherever you're going next.

Because the goal shouldn't be:

“They can't possibly replace me.”

The goal should be:

“I've prepared someone to replace me because I'm ready for what's next.”

Be valuable.

Be trusted.

Be excellent at what you do.

But don't confuse being needed with being ready to lead.

Sometimes the greatest evidence that you're ready for the next chair…

is that you've prepared someone else to sit in yours. 

Happy Thursday all,

-srt

#ThursdayThoughts #CoffeeAndConversation #CareerGrowth #Leadership #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceWisdom #ReaCoachingandConsulting

Teach Someone Something this Week

Think about that for a minute.

We spend a lot of our careers trying to become the person everyone needs.

The person who knows the system.

    The person who can fix the problem.

        The person everyone calls when something goes wrong.

And that feels good.

    It feels like job security.

        It feels like value.

            It feels like success.

                Until you realize something:

If you're the only person who knows how to do your job, you've given your organization a very good reason to keep you doing it.

Want to grow?

Start making yourself replaceable.

1. Train someone.
2. Document what you know.
3. Share the shortcuts you've learned.
4. Create processes that don't depend on you being in the room.
5. Stop protecting knowledge as though sharing it somehow makes you less valuable.
6. Then start demonstrating that you're capable of contributing at the next level.

Because leadership isn't proving the organization can't survive without you.

Leadership is building people and systems that can.

Here's your Monday challenge:

Teach someone something this week that only you currently know.

Write down a process that's been living in your head.

Give someone else an opportunity you've been holding onto.

Then use the space you've created to start learning what's next.

Be valuable.

Be generous with what you know.

But don't make yourself impossible to replace.

Because sometimes the best way to show you're ready for the next opportunity is to prove someone else is ready for yours.

Have a great Monday. Go develop somebody. 💪

-srt

#MondayMotivation #CareerGrowth #Leadership #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceWisdom #ReaCoachingandConsulting

Not Everything Needs to be Shared Real Time

Pour the coffee. I've been thinking about why we have such a hard time keeping good news to ourselves.

A recruiter messages you.

And before you've even responded, you've told someone at work.

You get an interview.

Now three coworkers know.

Your boss says something that sounds like a promotion might be coming.

By lunch, your work friends know what the new title might be, what you hope the salary will be, and when you think it's going to happen.

Why do we do that?

I don't think it's always because we're careless.

Sometimes we're excited.

Sometimes we want validation.

Sometimes saying something out loud makes the possibility feel more real.

And sometimes we've blurred the line between coworkers and confidants.

That's worth thinking about.

Because you can genuinely like the people you work with and still recognize that they don't need access to every part of your career.

Privacy isn't secrecy.

It's a boundary.

There's a difference.

Secrecy says, “I'm hiding something.”

Privacy says, “This isn't ready to be shared yet.”

And I think we've lost some appreciation for that distinction.

Not every opportunity becomes an offer.

Not every interview becomes a job.

Not every conversation about advancement becomes a promotion.

Not every exciting possibility becomes reality.

And when we announce possibilities too early, something interesting happens:

We create an audience for an outcome that hasn't happened yet.

Now people are asking:

“How did the interview go?”

“Did you hear back?”

“When are you leaving?”

“Did you get the promotion?”

“What happened with that recruiter?”

And suddenly something that could have been yours to quietly process has become something you have to explain.

Sometimes repeatedly.

There's another side to this too.

The moment you share information, you lose control of where it goes.

You may tell one trusted coworker.

That coworker tells another person because they trust them.

That person mentions it to someone else.

And eventually your boss hears:

“I heard you're interviewing.”

Now imagine that the opportunity goes nowhere.

You weren't planning to leave.

You were simply curious enough to have a conversation.

But your employer doesn't necessarily know that.

That's where I take another sip and remind myself:

Not everything needs to be shared in real time.

There's something powerful about allowing an opportunity to develop privately.

Take the recruiter call.

    Explore the possibility.

        Go to the interview.

            Ask the questions.

                Consider the promotion.

                    Negotiate the salary.

                        Make the decision.

And while you're doing all of that, resist the feeling that everyone needs a play-by-play.

Because here's the deeper lesson:

Your career is allowed to have a private life.

You can have work friends without giving them unrestricted access to your professional plans.

You can trust someone and still have boundaries.

You can be excited and still wait.

You can pursue an opportunity without announcing it.

And you can make a decision before asking ten people what they think you should do.

That last one might be the most important.

Sometimes when we tell too many people about an opportunity, their voices get louder than our own.

“You can't leave now.”

“You HAVE to take that job.”

“I'd never work there.”

“You deserve more money.”

“Your boss is going to be furious.”

“You'd be crazy not to do it.”

And before long, we're no longer asking:

What do I want?

We're managing everyone else's opinions about what we should want.

Some decisions need room to breathe.

Some opportunities need time to become real.

And some dreams need a little protection before they're strong enough to withstand everybody else's commentary.

☕️ So here's my Thursday Thought:

Stop feeling obligated to announce things while they're still becoming.

You don't need to tell everyone about the recruiter.

You don't need to announce the interview.

You don't need to predict the promotion.

You don't need to explain the opportunity you're considering.

Have one or two trusted people in your life? Absolutely.

But choose them carefully.

And remember:

Coworker and confidant are not automatically the same job description.

Sometimes the strongest career move isn't saying more.

It's quietly doing the work.

Let the interview happen.

Let the offer arrive.

Let the decision become yours.

And when there's actually something to announce?

Then pour another cup of coffee and tell the story. ☕️

Until then, it's okay to let what's next belong only to you.

Happy Thursday all,

-srt

#ThursdayThoughts #CoffeeAndConversation #CareerGrowth #Leadership #ProfessionalDevelopment #WorkplaceWisdom